Class remains a pertinent force in British politics, determining the life chances of millions and it casts a far longer shadow than many of us like to believe or admit.

There are many who thought that the language of class and class distinctions belonged to a bygone political era. John Major pledged to ‘create a classless society’ while John Prescott infamously declared ‘we’re all middle class now’. We had to do away with class.

The reality however is very different. As the academic Richard Hoggart once wrote: “Each decade we shiftily declare we have buried class; each decade the coffin stays empty”. Class remains a pertinent force in British politics, determining the life chances of millions and it casts a far longer shadow than many of us like to believe or admit.

It’s why it’s so refreshing to hear Keir Starmer speak the language of class and pledge to ‘smash the class ceiling’ which those of us from working class backgrounds have so often come up against. Many of us have seen and experienced first-hand how the class ceiling operates to prevent those from working class backgrounds being able to fulfil their potential. When you’re overlooked for a promotion at work or struggle to gain entry into your chosen profession despite having all of the right credentials, just because someone else can rely on an old school tie system or the bank of mum and dad to get a head start in life.

And it’s not all just in our heads. Plenty of research and evidence has proven the existence of a class ceiling.  Our life prospects are never detached from where we are born, the type of school we attended, or the background of our parents. People from working-class backgrounds who enter elite universities and professions still earn on average £6,400 less than peers drawn from the middle-class.  That’s a class pay gap of nearly 16%.

According to the Social Mobility Commission, even when those from working-class backgrounds have the same educational attainment, role and experience as their more privileged colleagues, those from poorer backgrounds are still paid an average of £2,242 (7%) less.

According to the Labour Force Survey of 100,000 people, only 10% of those from working-class backgrounds reach Britain’s higher managerial, professional or cultural occupations. You are 17 times more likely to go into law if your parents are lawyers, while the children of those in film and television are 12 times more likely to graduate into these fields, as cited in the book the Class Ceiling.

There can be no doubt then that a class ceiling exists, which is why it’s so refreshing to see the Labour Party leader talk about it in such frank terms and pledge to do something about it.

Starmer is right to place an emphasis on education when it comes to tackling the class ceiling, from delivering speaking lessons in state schools to improve communication skills, to modernising the curriculum to better prepare people for work to boosting access to vocational training and adult retraining, all of these proposals will be crucial to ensuring everyone can fulfil their potential irrespective of their background.

In pledging to ‘smash the class ceiling’ Starmer is using the language of class not to divide people, but to show just how much it can act as a barrier for those from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Ending the class ceiling will go some way towards making Britain the meritocracy it has always claimed to be, while bringing communities together, where everyone has a chance to succeed.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

Comments are closed.