Transcript The economic integration of ethnic minorities in Britain

The economic integration of
ethnic minorities in Britain
Anthony Heath (Oxford University)
Sin Yi Cheung (Birmingham University)
Yaojun Li (Manchester University)
Ethnic disadvantage in the labour
market
Government statistics continue to show that ethnic
minorities are disadvantaged in the labour
market, experiencing higher unemployment
rates than the white British – in some cases two
or three times as high (GHS, LFS, SARS)
The situation has not improved over time.
Nor has it improved across generations – the
second generation are as disadvantaged as the
first, migrant generation.
Between-group variation
There are some major differences between
ethnic groups, with men and women of
Pakistani or Bangladeshi, African and
Caribbean heritage being the most
disadvantaged.
People of Indian heritage experience some
disadvantage, while those of Irish or
European heritage experience very little.
Unemployment rates
Black Caribbean
Black African
Pakistani/Bangladeshi
Indian
Chinese
Other white
British white
Men
11.0
10.0
9.8
4.9
2.9
3.9
3.5
Women
6.3
7.4
4.8
5.1
3.9
3.4
2.5
Occupational attainment
There has however been some intergenerational
progress in occupational attainment.
Among those fortunate enough to be in
employment, the second generation are much
more likely than the first generation to obtain
professional and managerial posts.
The key problem therefore is in gaining access to
employment.
Possible drivers of ethnic
disadvantage
•
•
•
•
•
Differences in aspirations and expectations
Human capital (education, skills and training)
Social capital (social connections and networks)
Cultural preferences
Structural features of the labour market (eg local
unemployment)
• Direct discrimination (by employers or coworkers)
• Indirect discrimination
Aspirations
Little evidence on this but
• First generation may have lower
expectations (ie be more willing to take
low paid work in order to send remittances
home)
• Second generation seem to have very
similar aspirations to their white British
peers (BCS, YCS, LSYPE)
Human capital
• The first generation, educated abroad, often had
quite low levels of qualification and fluency in
English
• The second generation have in many groups
overtaken the white British in their educational
levels and are fluent in English
• Only Black Caribbeans have lower school
attainment than do whites from similar social
class backgrounds (YCS)
• Human capital explains no more than a quarter
of the employment gap
Social capital
• Ethnic groups vary in their extent of
‘bridging’ social capital
• Chinese have the highest and Pakistanis
and Bangladeshis the least (HOCS)
• Differences in bridging social capital might
explain another 10% of the gap
• But ‘bonding’ social capital can also
provide advantages within the ethnic
enclave economy
Cultural preferences
• Cultural preferences (eg preference for
traditional gender roles) probably explain
differences in economic activity
• Less clear why they should explain differences
in unemployment
• But there is emerging evidence of Muslim
disadvantage compared with equally qualified
Indian, African or white co-ethnics (APS)
• The mechanisms involved are completely
unclear at present, but one possibility is the ‘chill
factor’
Structural aspects of the labour
market
• Unemployment rates tend to be higher in
disadvantaged neighbourhoods
• Some minorities (eg Pakistani and Bangladeshi,
African and Caribbean) are particularly likely to
live in disadvantaged neighbourhoods
• But recent research for DWP suggests that this
explains only a modest part of the gap –
minorities have higher unemployment rates than
white British living in the same neighbourhoods
Direct discrimination
• Best evidence comes from field
experiments, which almost invariably
demonstrate discrimination
• Also evidence on rates of job refusal
• It is likely that discrimination (measured by
job refusals) explain up to 25% of the gap
Reported job refusals - men
Has been refused
job on non-racial
grounds
Has been
refused job on
racial grounds
Overall
reported
refusals
White
21.2
0.4
21.6
African
28.0
25.7
53.7
Caribbean
21.6
11.3
33.9
Black Mixed
24.1
11.1
35.2
Indian
18.9
8.4
27.3
Pakistani
27.3
8.7
36.0
Bangladeshi
20.5
7.5
28.0
Chinese
18.9
1.9
20.8
Other
22.9
11.2
34.1
All ethnic minorities
22.6
11.4
34.0
Indirect discrimination
• Little systematic research on this
• But employers may for example prefer
candidates from elite universities ‘national’
universities whereas some minorities may
attend less prestigious ‘local’ universities
• Suggestive evidence that ethnic
disadvantage is greater in the private
sector than in the public sector (DWP
report)
Overview
• Our best efforts have so far failed to
explain wholly the employment gap
• Different explanations apply to the first and
second generation, and to different
minorities.
• Lack of human capital is a major factor in
the first generation
• Discrimination is a major factor in the
second generation
Policy implications
• The problem shows no sign of resolution
of its own accord
• Government action is needed
• Recommendations of the Business
Commission on Race Equality in the
Workplace provide an excellent basis for
action
Business Commission
Recommendations
• Discrimination testing and measurement of
progress towards reducing the employment gap
• Use procurement as a lever
• Establish agreed action plans (cf successful
voluntary agreements in Northern Ireland)
• Introduce new legislation in 2015 if inadequate
progress has been made by then