Magic circle firm Clifford Chance has for the first time reported pay gap data for social mobility, which reveals a 44% difference in average pay between staff from a working class and those from a ‘professional’ background.

The firm asked all employees and partners the occupation of the main earner in their household when they were 14, in line with Office for National Statistics classifications.

Clifford Chance said the responses showed a 26% pay gap between those from a working class background and those from an ‘intermediate’ background, although only 49% of all UK staff polled responded to the question.

UK managing partner Michael Bates said that ‘understanding more about our socio-economic diversity is crucial if we are to become the truly inclusive firm we wish to be’.

Clifford Chance also reported that its gender pay gap for employees narrowed last year, from 19.1% to 16.6%, although it widened slightly to 64.9% when partners are included.

Its ethnicity pay gap, including employees and partners, went up by 6.1% to 53.6% – but the firm reported a negative ethnicity pay gap, when the average pay of those from an ethnic minority background is higher than those who are white, for employees alone.

Fellow magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also reported its pay gap figures last week, revealing a 52.1% difference in hourly rate as between men and women including employees and partners, narrowing slightly from 54.5% the previous year.

However, Freshfields’ women partners were paid 2.6% more than male partners in a slight increase on the 2.4% gap in 2020.

 

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