It’s ten years since prime minister Tony Blair promised to eradicate the ‘ethnic penalty’ of the pay-gap between BAME and white workers. As we reach this deadline today’s government is silent on the issue.
In a foreword to a 2003 Cabinet Office paper called ‘Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market’, Blair wrote:
“Too many members of ethnic minority communities are still being left behind. Even those individuals who achieve
academic success do not necessarily reap the rewards in the workplace that their qualifications merit.
“Though it is nearly 40 years since the first Race Relations Act, it is clear that racial discrimination in the labor market still persists.
“The report sets out the goal that, in ten years’ time, ethnic minority groups should no longer face disproportionate barriers
to accessing and realising opportunities for achievement in the labor market.
“I believe that this is a demanding goal but an achievable and crucial one if we are to build a more inclusive country in which everyone can realize their full potential.
“I strongly welcome this report and the Government has accepted all its conclusions. These will now be implemented as Government policy.”
As we reach that ten-year deadline the ‘ethnic penalty’ pay gap remains off the government agenda, at least as far as BAME communities are concerned.
Today I read that equalities minister Jo Swinson is backing a new campaign to highlight the pay gap for women only. For ‘women’ read ‘white women.’
The government has virtually ceased to monitor the BAME pay gap, certainly when it comes to publishing data. Yet all the evidence suggests that labor market inequalities have grown during this recession.
Blair talked about strategies that were needed to tackle the issue, yet there are no current initiatives that I am aware of.
This is not a matter of Blair’s credibility but the government’s commitment. It speaks to the absence of ‘race’ from the political agenda.
A study by the University of Essex in 2012 found that “in 1993 white people earned an average of 18p an hour more than non-whites, but by 2008 the gap had risen to 43p an hour. This was around 7.5% of the minimum wage for those over 21 in 2008, or 3.6% of median hourly earnings… Britain’s white workers are paid more than ethnic minorities and the hourly pay gap has more than doubled in the 15 years to 2008.”
In London, supposedly the engine-room for the British economy and by far the most diverse city with almost a third of the capital non-white, the GLA found a 13% gender pay gap (which had reduced marginally from 15% to 13.1% between 2006 and 2010), but a 25.2% ethnic pay gap which had increased from 23.8% in 2006.
White workers earned, on average, £14.38p per hour in London, compared to £10.75p for ethnic minorities.
Past studies have shown that this ‘ethnic penalty’ applies when you measure equally-qualified white and BAME workers. In other words, comparing like-for-like still reveals a stark gap.
As well as the pay gap, disproportionate BAME unemployment has grown since the downturn began in 2009. African and Caribbean men are up to three times as likely to be unemployed as their white counterparts.
Studies undertaken before the recession showed a 16 percent gap between white and ethnic minority employment rates, a statistic that has barely changed throughout Labour’s period in office. 60% of ethnic minorities of working age are in employment, compared to 76% of their white counterparts.
A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the University of Manchester found that:
- While white men in full time employment fell by 5% between 2001 and 2011 it fell by 9% for African and Caribbean men in the same period, and fell by 6% for Pakistanis, 2% for Bangladeshis and 1% for Indians.
- The proportion of white unemployed men from 2001 to 2011 rose by 1% (to 6%), compared to a 2% rise for Caribbean and African men (to 16% and 17% respectively).
- White women in full time employment fell 1% between 2001 and 2011 but fell by 11% for Caribbean women and 13% for African women in the same period.
- The proportion white unemployed women rose by 1% (to 5%) between 2001 and 2011 but rose 3% for Caribbean and African women in the same period (to 11% and 17% respectively).
I am not arguing that equalities minister Swinson should not be concerned by the gender pay gap. While any pay gap exists it must prompt politicians to tackle it.
However the pay gap is not a one-strand issue. It cuts across ethnicity, disabilities, age and more. And it is particularly stark when it comes to BAME communities.
Indeed, as I have mentioned, the gender pay gap is slowly reducing while the BAME pay gap was at a much higher level to begin with and is increasing.
The BAME pay gap needs to be considered together with disproportionate BAME unemployment as they are two sides of the same coin and the need to link the two factors is much stronger than with gender.
There should be no competition between different equalities strands, no hierarchy of equalities, however when one (gender) is grabbing ministers’ attention while another appears to be off the agenda that is a huge inconsistency, and one that Swinson should address.
By Lester Holloway @brolezholloway
