New research shows the horrifying truth that employees from working-class backgrounds are being paid less than their middle-class peers.

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Even when people from working-class backgrounds successfully enter professional occupations, more privileged counterparts still earn £6,718 more per year.

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Classism is an insidious force holding people down that rarely shows itself explicitly. It includes unnerving, euphemistic concepts like someone lacking ‘polish’ – which we routinely hear in the professional workplace – that ultimately lead to this Class Pay Gap.

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These attitudes represent the self-presentational markers of a privileged class background that we continue to mistake as markers of merit, ability or potential.

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It is simply not right that a Class Pay Gap exists in modern Britain. It holds back social mobility, prevents employers promoting and keeping the best talent, and undermines meritocracy.

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As the cost of living rises, we have a moral responsibility to stamp out the Class Pay Gap once and for all. All of us can be part of the solution. It’s time to act!