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'Class pay gap' in Britain shows snobbery persists

Govt report shows professionals with working-class backgrounds make, on average, £6,800 less a year than their colleagues from more privileged families

Published Tue, Feb 21, 2017 · 09:50 PM

    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.

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