'Class pay gap' in Britain shows snobbery persists

London

FOR a relatively small country, Britain is blessed with a multitude of regional and even neighbourhood accents. While all these varied pronunciations add flavour to the language, they also have their pitfalls: Whenever British people speak, their fellow citizens immediately hear the unmistakable twang of class.

Snobbery still lives in Britain, a class-conscious democracy with carefully calibrated levels of social standing. The latest evidence of the persistence - and perniciousness - of the class system comes from an official government report from the Social Mobility Commission, which found what it called a "class pay gap". Professionals with working-class backgrounds make, on average, £6,800 (S$12,000) less a year than their colleagues from more privileged families.