I was told if I wanted to be a psychologist I should shut up about growing up on a council estate
When I went to do my PhD to become a psychologist, I was faced with classism for the first time, writes Dr Jessica Taylor – I had never mixed with middle class people, before
I grew up on a large council estate in one of the most deprived areas of the UK, Stoke on Trent.
As it stands, Stoke on Trent has double the child poverty rate of the rest of the country, the highest infant mortality rate in the UK, double the amount of children receiving free school meals, the second highest rate of premature death – and is the worst area in the UK to be born with congenital birth defects.
People in Stoke on Trent are living on the lowest incomes in the country, benefit sanctions have drastically increased, and resourcing has been cut repeatedly by central government. Our area is dying. Our people are suffering.
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