Treat class discrimination like racism and sexism to level up society, psychologists say

CLASS should be protected from discrimination in the same way as gender and race, leading psychologists have said.

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has called for a person’s social class to be given the same legal protections as the nine characteristics covered by the 2010 Equality Act.

The current law protects people from discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Potential discrimination on the basis of income, accent, education or family background is not covered.

The BPS said enshrining class as a protected characteristic in equality laws will help to tackle widening inequalities and make levelling up a reality.

It said adding class would “create an immediate and clear legal mandate for initiatives to reduce class-based discrimination”. Dr Bridgette Rickett, one of the report’s authors, said levelling up ambitions were “admirable and urgent”.

She added that “discrimination based on someone’s social class or socioeconomic status is immune from direct challenge and for too long the damaging impacts of social class inequalities and discrimination have been ignored”. Dr Rickett said that “huge strides could be made if institutions were obliged to record data on class, analyse class-based disparities and implement policies and initiatives to tackle discrimination”.

The report found that lower social class is associated with poor mental health caused by chronic stress, educational and employment barriers, and insecure housing.

A spokesman for the Government’s Equality Hub said: “The Government is determined to open up opportunities to everyone, no matter their class, ethnicity or background. We will not be making any changes to the Equality Act at this time.”