Why it pays to be privileged – through the lens of the UK Labour Force Survey
People in higher professional and managerial occupations tend to command large incomes, exercise substantial power in their workplaces and pass significant advantages on to their children.
Daniel LaurisonSam Friedman
Daniel Laurison, Assistant Professor of vietnam rcs data Sociology at Swarthmore College and Sam Friedman, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, LSE assert that class analysis needs an approach which registers class destinations more effectively.
What is the relative exclusivity of different high-status professions in the UK?
Daniel and Sam’s research focuses on the many ways in which privilege affects career outcomes and finds that the upwardly mobile face a powerful and previously unrecognised ‘class pay gap’ within the UK’s elite occupations.
They identify the channels through which class inequalities are reproduced and define steps to support meaningful change.
The Data
Drawing on data from the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS), the UK’s largest employment survey, Daniel and Sam demonstrate that a powerful ‘class pay gap’ exists in the UK’s elite occupations and in ‘the professions’ more broadly. They identified the LFS as a “gold standard, nationally representative source” upon which to draw.