February 2017
Featured in this insight: Financial services
Survey suggests a class pay divide is prevalent amongst accountants: According to a recent professional services survey, finance employees from less advantaged households earn an average of £13,713 less per year than their wealthier counterparts.
The survey, which was conducted by the Social Mobility Commission, also revealed that those who are from a working class background (not necessarily in the financial sector) earn 17 per cent or £6,800 than those from more affluent backgrounds.
Following the financial sector as the industry with the largest class pay divide was medicine, with a gap of £10,218 and IT, with a gap of £4,736.
The Social Mobility Commission used figures from the United Kingdom labour force survey, academic data from the London School of Economics and the University College London. The data concluded that working class individuals employed within finance management roles, IT and engineering find progressing in their careers more difficult.
The survey revealed that even when working class employees are educated to the same level, are employed in the same role and have the same experience as their more privileged peers, they still earn an average of £2,242 (7 per cent) less.
The findings also suggested that women professionals and those from an ethnic minority face a “double disadvantage” when it comes to salaries, with men from managerial and professional backgrounds earning 21 per cent more than women from a working class background.
Further to this, employees from less well-off backgrounds are not as likely as those who earn more to ask for a pay rise. As well as this, they have less access to work opportunities and networks; some even exclude themselves from promotion due to the fear of not fitting in.
View more of our sector specific insights: Financial services
