Ethnic minorities are less likely to be in paid work than white British men and women, a government-commissioned report has found.
The study by the National Equality Panel – set up by the government in 2008 – also revealed men were still paid up to 21% more per hour than women, the BBC has reported. By retirement, the difference between rich and poor can be “colossal”, the report added.
Panel chairman John Hills, professor at the London School of Economics, told the BBC: “Most political parties and people subscribe to the ideal of ‘equality of opportunity’.
“But how do you create a level playing field when there are such differences in the resources available to people?”
Many women work part-time, earning less than £7.20 an hour, much less than the median pay of £9.90 across the country, the panel said.
But the type of job and pay a parent had could have a cumulative effect throughout a person’s life, setting them on “tracks that make all sorts of differences”, Hills added.
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