The TUC is calling for legal measures to tackle ‘class’ discrimination at work.
It has said professional firms need to report the gaps in the pay between workers from different social backgrounds.
Graduates from wealthier families are twice as likely to start on a higher salary than their working class peers, it stressed.
The TUC also warned of indirect forms of discrimination, such as the use of unpaid interns as a gateway into jobs.
Private school is also a factor here. Graduates who went to private school are still twice as likely than those who went to state school to be earning above £30,000 (18% compared to 9%).
It pointed to the government’s own social mobility commission which said even when those from working class backgrounds do enter professional jobs they earn less, on average 17% less than their more privileged colleagues. Those from better off backgrounds are almost 80% more likely to be in a professional job than their working class peers.
