Direct effect of social origin on earnings
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on how young people’s socio-economic background affects their earnings.
Summary main findings
25 to 29 year olds from professional backgrounds earn significantly more than those from other backgrounds but with the same qualifications.
In the 3 years to 2024, young people from higher professional backgrounds earned 19% more than those from a lower working class background with the same qualification level.
The earnings gap between young people from different socio-economic backgrounds has stayed mostly the same. In the 3 years to 2024, the gap between young people from higher professional and lower working class backgrounds was around £2.30 an hour.
Between the 3 years to 2016 and the 3 years to 2024, earnings went up significantly for young people from:
- higher working socio-economic class backgrounds (up by 25%)
- lower working socio-economic class backgrounds (up by 23%)
- intermediate socio-economic backgrounds (up by 29%)
Data for 2014 to 2024 combined shows that:
- young men and women with the same qualifications and socio-economic background earned very similar amounts – the gap in earnings between men and women was largest for those from a lower working class background
- young people from most ethnic minority groups earned around the same as White British young people from the same socio-economic background, except for those from the Bangladeshi ethnic group who earned significantly less than all other groups
- in every ethnic group, young people from higher professional backgrounds earned more than those from lower working class backgrounds
- young people with a disability earned less than those without a disability with the same qualifications and socio-economic background – the size of the earnings gap between young people with a disability and those without was similar across socio-economic backgrounds except lower working backgrounds (probably due to the minimum wage)
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage differences in hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, relative to those from lower working-class backgrounds, controlling for highest educational level, sex and age (UK, 2022 to 2024 combined)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Percentage difference relative to lower working class |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 18.9 |
| Lower professional | 11.9 |
| Intermediate | 10.1 |
| Higher working | 3.5 |
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Changes over time
Visualisation
Hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, adjusted for inflation, by socio-economic background, controlling for highest qualification, sex and age (UK, 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages)
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Data
| Year | Lower working (£) | Higher working (£) | Intermediate (£) | Lower professional (£) | Higher professional (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | 12.27 | 12.69 | 13.51 | 13.72 | 14.59 |
| 2021 to 2023 | 11.94 | 11.99 | 12.97 | 13.40 | 13.90 |
| 2020 to 2022 | 11.58 | 11.76 | 11.78 | 12.54 | 13.07 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 10.90 | 11.27 | 11.31 | 12.18 | 12.82 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 10.76 | 11.43 | 11.30 | 12.03 | 12.66 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 10.79 | 11.42 | 11.66 | 12.25 | 12.99 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 10.87 | 11.23 | 11.58 | 12.44 | 13.22 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 10.36 | 10.75 | 10.99 | 11.70 | 12.46 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 9.99 | 10.13 | 10.48 | 11.39 | 12.02 |
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By sex
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, controlling for educational level and age, by sex and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Men (£) | Women (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 12.37 | 12.33 |
| Lower professional | 11.71 | 11.64 |
| Intermediate | 11.03 | 11.05 |
| Higher working | 10.69 | 10.64 |
| Lower working | 10.56 | 10.16 |
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By ethnicity
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, controlling for educational level and age, by ethnicity and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Ethnicity | Lower working (£) | Higher professional (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 8.16 | 9.75 |
| Chinese | 9.78 | 11.67 |
| Indian | 10.17 | 12.15 |
| Pakistani | 9.41 | 11.24 |
| Black African | 10.29 | 12.29 |
| Black Caribbean | 10.13 | 12.09 |
| Mixed | 10.31 | 12.31 |
| White British | 10.45 | 12.48 |
| White other | 10.41 | 12.43 |
| Other | 9.82 | 11.73 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By disability status
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, controlling for educational level and age, by disability and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled (£) | Not disabled (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 11.51 | 12.51 |
| Lower professional | 10.94 | 11.78 |
| Intermediate | 10.54 | 11.09 |
| Higher working | 9.85 | 10.77 |
| Lower working | 10.15 | 10.38 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Time period
- 2022 to 2024 combined (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages (Changes over time)
- 2014 to 2024 combined (By sex, ethnicity and disability status)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the effect of young people’s socio-economic background on their earnings. ‘Young people’ in the data are 25 to 29 years old.
Things you need to know
This year’s estimates are not directly comparable to those in last year’s report. This is due to changes to the methodology and the inflation base year to 2024. Data is weighted using LFS income weights.
The reference group is men aged 27 with lower level qualifications (below GCSE grade 1 or equivalent). For data by sex, estimates are shown for people with the lowest levels of education and aged 27 years. For data by ethnicity, the linear regression model assumes that class effects are the same within each ethnic group.
For data by socio-economic background, data from 2022 to 2024 is combined to get more accurate estimates.
For data by year, data is combined into rolling 3-year averages (for example, 2022 to 2024).
For data by sex, ethnicity and disability, data from 2014 to 2024 is combined.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 20KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025