Half of workers think UK has a ‘class ceiling’, says survey
- The Guardian
- Jessica Elgot
Half of British workers believe a regional accent and a working-class background are barriers to success in their workplaces, according to a study that also found only 17% of business leaders from are blue-collar backgrounds in some UK regions.
The study was commissioned by the former education secretary Justine Greening, who said working-class people still believed they encountered a “class ceiling”, with too much emphasis placed on personal connections that middle-class candidates were more likely to have. About 50% of the 2,000 people surveyed said those without strong regional accents found it easier to progress in their industries.
A quarter said having a regional accent had held them back at work, rising to almost half of people surveyed in London.
Only a third said their boss had a working-class background, which dropped to a fifth in the health and social work sector, compared with half in manufacturing.
In Wales, fewer than 20% of those surveyed said they had a working-class person in a senior leadership role. Greening, the first education secretary to have had a comprehensive education, said the study revealed social mobility is stagnating. Less than half of those polled said they were earning more in relative terms than their highest-paid parent did at their age.
“When it comes to opportunity and how far you can go in Britain, far too much is still determined by what’s in the rear-view mirror,” she said.
“There is still a class ceiling, and it’s clear from our grassroots research that people see it and experience it every day. I think this frustration with established orders and elites is exactly what we are seeing a rebellion against.”
Greening, who left the cabinet earlier this year, has frequently been linked with a run for London mayor.
She has since set up a social mobility pledge to encourage employers to sign a promise to adopt open recruitment policies such as name-blind or “contextual” hiring, as well as offering more apprenticeships.
“Levelling up Britain in this way means talent is what determines how far you go,” Greening said.
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