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Building working class power
We need to take class discrimination seriously, writes FRANCES O’GRADY, general secretary of the TUC, as 2019's Congress closes
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady

GRADUATES with parents in professional jobs are more than twice as likely as working-class graduates to start on a high salary, no matter what degree level they attain. That was the stark finding of research commissioned by the TUC and published during Congress 2019.

Our findings echo research from the government’s own Social Mobility Commission that found that even when people from working-class backgrounds enter professional occupations, they earn on average 17 per cent less than more privileged colleagues.

That’s just not right. And it’s a colossal waste of talent. It’s just one example of how the system is rigged against working-class people.

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