Revealed: working class people paid thousands less than middle class peers despite doing same jobs

Firms should be legally required' to publish their class pay gaps, says thinktank, after it found salary differences of up to 10,000

People from working-class families earn several thousands of pounds a year less on average for doing the same jobs as their more privileged peers, according to a landmark study of the class pay gap.

Professionals from working-class backgrounds earn 6,718 less on average, while women and most ethnic minorities face a double disadvantage, according to the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF), which conducted the research. Working-class professional women earn 9,450 less than men, while working-class Bangladeshi professionals earn 10,432 less than their white counterparts in the same jobs.