Ethnic minorities are still finding it difficult to break into the British
labour market, according to a report by the Cabinet Office.
The Performance and Innovation Unit’s Ethnic Minorities in the Labour Market
Project, shows that white males are the most economically active section of the
population, with 85 per cent either employed or actively seeking work. This
contrasts with 77 per cent of black-African males, 71 per cent of Pakistani men
and just 62 per cent of Chinese men.
The report using analysis from the Labour Force Survey, the Census and
National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, shows the only ethnic minority to be more
economically active than whites are those that fall into the ‘black-other’
women’s sector – 77 per cent are considered to be economically active by the
report compared to 74 per cent of white women.
This is followed by 72 per cent of black-Caribbean women, 62 per cent of
Indian women and just 19 per cent of Bangladeshi women.
Ethnic minorities make up 7.1 per cent of Britain’s population and 7.2 per
cent of all working-age people. Indians are the largest ethnic minority group,
followed by Pakistanis and black-Caribbeans.
However, it is projected that ethnic minority and mixed origin groups will
account for more than half the growth in the working age population over the
next 10 years, claims the survey.
While 11.5 per cent of school pupils in England are from ethnic minorities,
projections for the next decade show the most rapid rise in the working-age
population will occur among the most youthful ethnic groups such as
black-Caribbean, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and black-Africans.
020 7276 1416, www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/2001/ethnicity/scope.html
