DWP Publish Research into Ethnic Minorities in the UK Labour Market

Two studies published recently by the UK Department for Work and Pensions constitute the largest examination of the employment penalties faced by ethnic minorities in the labour market and their geographical variation.

The studies measure the extent to which ethnic minorities in the UK are less likely to have a job than whites, after taking account of other factors - in particular educational qualifications.

DWP Research Report 341 - Ethnic Penalties in the Labour Market: Employers and Discrimination presents the findings of a statistical analysis of large data sets, including: the Labour Force Survey; General Household Survey; the British Social Attitudes Survey; the 2001 Census Sample of Anonymised Records (SARs) and; the Home Office Citizenship Survey. The work was undertaken by academics from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University.

DWP Research Report 333: "Ethnic Minority Populations and the Labour Market: an Analysis of the 1991 and 2001 Census provides an analysis of inequalities in the national and local labour markets between ethnic groups, using the 1991 and 2001 Census. It traces the impact of social and human capital, improvements over time, generational contrasts, and the geography of disadvantage. The work was undertaken by researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield.

Significant findings from the ethnic penalties analysis are:

• Overall, many ethnic minority groups continue to have higher unemployment rates, greater concentrations in routine and semi-routine work and lower hourly earnings than whites. The patterns for women are broadly similar to those for men, although ethnic minority women tend not to be as disadvantaged relative to whites.
• These differentials cannot be explained by the age, education or foreign birth of ethnic minority groups. Having taken account of education and other factors the 'first generation' who were born overseas experience even greater ethnic penalties than the 'second generation' who were born and educated in Britain but the generational difference is not great. The ethnic penalties for Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi men in gaining employment have not shown any sizeable decline over three decades.
• The ethnic composition of the public sector differs markedly from that of the private sector, with ethnic minorities more likely to work in the public sector. There was no tendency for equal treatment to be more prevalent in larger establishments.
• Self-reported prejudice on the part of white men and women displays a modest longer-term decline, but there are substantial year-to-year fluctuations. Levels of self-reported prejudice by white employers and managers are found to be significantly lower in the public administration, education and health sectors and are significantly higher in sectors such as manufacturing and construction.

Significant findings from the 2001 Census analysis are:

• Overall findings indicate that the Department is correct to focus on ethnic minority employment issues.
• Qualifications have improved for ethnic minorities and this greatly increases the chance of being employed.
• Despite the improvement in some labour market circumstances the 2001 Census confirms that disadvantage persists for all ethnic minorities.