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12 February 2019
Do young people from poor backgrounds face a ‘class ceiling’?
http://recruitingtimes.org/news/
Most of us will be familiar with the phrase ‘glass ceiling’: the idea that women are only able to advance so far in the workplace, but how many of us have considered another vital barrier to success that so many people will face in their lifetimes: the ‘class ceiling’?
A controversial topic to say the least, but recent studies have shown young people from poorer backgrounds may not be allowed the same opportunities as their wealthier peers, causing them to hit a ‘ceiling’ preventing them from rising above their parents’ social class.
Social Class
Although we may consider social class to be a thing of the past, if we’re honest, most of us know where we fall in the social hierarchy we seem incapable of escaping.
Following an employment survey undertaken by The Labour Force Survey, it’s been established a “class pay gap” exists in the UK. An example of this is people from working class backgrounds earning roughly 16% less on average than those from privileged backgrounds. This gap exists even when the individuals have the same education, level of experience and job title.
In a similar study, it was found that most pupils accepted into Oxford and Cambridge universities were from just 5 of the most elite UK schools as opposed to nearly 2,000 other schools.
With these statistics, it’s clear there’s a fundamental class difference in the UK which must be addressed to ensure young people from all backgrounds are offered the same opportunities for social movement.
Regression
Worryingly, the ‘class ceiling’ might be getting worse, not better, as time goes on. In another study undertaken by the Social Mobility Pledge Initiative, 60% of workers aged 35 – 64 stated they believe poorer people in the generation below them find it more difficult to progress in the workplace than their own experiences.
According to former education secretary and founder of the Social Mobility Pledge Initiative, Justine Greening, commented on these findings, suggesting that the ‘baby boomer’ generation may have been more accommodating when considering people of different social class backgrounds.
Today’s millennials may be having a harder time proving their worth, with issues such as names, strong regional accents and vocabulary being stated as things which may be reducing their ability to progress in their careers and 54% (62% in London) of those aged between 18 – 64 who identify as a ‘disadvantaged young person’ find progressing to be “difficult” or “very difficult”. This represented the biggest group in the survey.
The Social Mobility Pledge
Following the findings that there is a social gap in pay and progression opportunities for young people from different backgrounds, Greening set up the Social Mobility Pledge upon leaving the Tory cabinet. The goal of the initiative is to encourage employers to hire and promote those from all backgrounds by applying schemes such as name blind recruitment and additional apprenticeships being offered to give everyone a fair chance at success.
