Common People #0010
Helping Common People become more common in the creative industries
Hi everyone,
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for sticking with us over the last year. We’ve been honoured and humbled by the solidarity and support that the group has shown one another.
Since we’ve been in touch, the Class Pay Gap has been in the news as 17 November marked the day when those from working-class backgrounds in professional occupations effectively stopped getting paid.
It will come as no surprise to you all, but for the third time, research from The Social Mobility Foundation revealed a #ClassPayGap exists in the workplace. They found that professionals from working-class backgrounds are paid an average of £6,291 less than those from middle-class backgrounds, despite being in the same occupation. This means that they effectively work 1 in 8 days for free.
The results were also covered in The Guardian: Working-class people in UK ‘paid £6,000 less for same professional roles’
We’ve been celebrating
Lucky Generals supports working class talent
As Lucky Generals turns 10 years old the agency has teamed up with Effie UK to create #Lucky10Grand, a fund which will help provide training for people from working class backgrounds.
Why isn't all of adland paying the real Living Wage?
This was brought to our attention by Dan Cullen-Shute who was interviewed by Campaign Live:
“A change in format of Campaign Magazine UK's school reports may seem like an odd thing for an agency CEO to be getting excited about in the run-up to Christmas, but this one's a pretty big deal. As of next year, every agency entry will call out whether or not they're Living Wage Foundation accredited: that is to say, do they pay everyone, from support staff to cleaning staff to security outwards, a real living wage… Social mobility continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing our industry - Living Wage Accreditation continues to be one of the simplest ways to show we're taking it seriously. So let's get on it, yeah?”
We couldn’t agree more Dan!
We’ve been reading and discussing
How can adland celebrate working class culture better?
A great read which explores how the industry can show consumers, as well as agency talent, that their working class backgrounds are something to celebrate:
“If adland wants to genuinely celebrate working class culture, it must first understand that almost all of culture begins in working class communities. Rather than extract the words and symbols from those communities and cultures, adland should be employing planners, creatives, account people, and producers from those working class communities and cultures. Now that would be cause for celebration.” - Jed Hallam, co-founder, Common People
Why class is culture and we should celebrate both
A view from Vicki Maguire that argues that by embracing all classes, adland has the chance to become hugely enriched:
“The point is to stay open-minded, enjoy what you enjoy, and be confident in expressing your opinions. It's an approach that might help the few working-class kids in the industry to feel less uncomfortable and anxious about being themselves. Too often, they end up feeling excluded from the many opportunities that this industry lays out.”
Adland leaders warn Jeremy Hunt of 'damaging impact' of underfunded arts subjects
Ahead of the Autumn statement, Execs from D&AD, Saatchi & Saatchi and Adam & Eve/DDB urged Jeremy Hunt to increase funding for art and design subjects in state schools due to the “damaging impact” of underinvestment on the creative sector.
UK spends more financing inequality in favour of rich than rest of Europe
The UK spends more than anywhere else in Europe subsidising the cost of structural inequality in favour of the rich.
Gap between haves and have-nots widening
Research by the Centre for Social Justice think tank argues the most disadvantaged are no better off than they were 15 years ago and that the growing gap between the UK's "haves and have-nots" is in danger of becoming a "chasm."
In other sectors
Finance sector has a chance to close pay gap
It’s always interesting to keep an eye on how other sectors are addressing social mobility. A joint letter signed by a group of social mobility leaders and businesses was published in the FT recently. It called on the Financial Conduct Authority to mandate socioeconomic background data collection for large firms caught our eye:
“The financial services sector is a powerhouse of the UK economy but is affected by the UK’s long standing productivity problem. A focus on increasing socio-economic diversity can address this and ensure the sector remains internationally competitive.”
Art and class: Working-class artists on breaking into exclusive world
An inspiring read about an artist called Nathan Wyburn who started his art career by creating Simon Cowell's portrait using Marmite on toast.
We’ve been watching
You all know how much we all love Greggs. If you can’t decide on a Christmas movie to watch, watch this instead.
For everyone celebrating Christmas, we hope you have a wonderful time.
We’ll see you all in 2024.
Your fellow Commoner