Data shows unemployment for ethnic minorities at nearly double that of white Britons
Cracking her whip on the shocking race inequality in the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May has warned business leaders, government and institutions that they must ensure that race is never a barrier to people achieving their goals. The audit has exposed “significant divisions” in the way ethnic minorities are treated.
The racial disparity audit, which May had commissioned just after she took office a year ago, gives an “unprecedented insight” into how people from different minority backgrounds face a “postcode lottery of outcomes” just like the unemployment rate for ethnic minorities being almost double that of white British adults in the UK.
May has called on the government and institutions to “explain or change” this disparity.
The figures also showed that black Caribbean people were being permanently excluded from school “three times as often as White British pupils”, while those of Indian, Pakistani and white British descent were more likely to own their own homes when compared with black people and those from Bangladesh.
Launching the review, May said: “People who have lived with discrimination don’t need a government audit to make them aware of the scale of the challenge. But this audit means that for society as a whole —for government, for our public services — there is nowhere to hide.”
Calling the audit a “comprehensive and coherent race equality strategy”, David Isaac, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that the report must be used tackle the “entrenched inequality” in the UK, and to set the foundations for real change.
The report has prompted campaigners to urge ministers to lead the way in tackling the inequalities, but also to acknowledge that society as a whole must change to ensure a level playing field for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Britons, as well as white people.
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