How place influences employment outcomes for ethnic minorities

This research looks at the influence of location on employment for ethnic minorities, asking why ethnic minority people fare disproportionately worse in the labour market in areas of high deprivation.

It examines the roles of culture, racism and class, and of familial, community and state support in affecting employment outcomes. It found that: Racism in education and employment varies by locality, contributing to differences in outcome by location.

Key points

• Racism in education and employment varies by locality, contributing to differences in outcome by place.
• Knowledge of education and labour market systems, and how to negotiate them, affects employment outcomes. Social segregation and migration tend to reduce knowledge and negotiating ability, leading to differing employment outcomes by place.
• Whilst social segregation may provide support, it can also reduce employment performance, limiting social networks and inhibiting labour market knowledge. For some ethnic groups, segregation reinforces cultural norms of women’s role as nurturer rather than breadwinner. Self-employment appeared to exacerbate social segregation, especially where labour was limited to family.
• There was some evidence that the relative size of ethnic minority groups in a locality might affect employment outcomes, with local policies likely to serve the largest ethnic minority group. This would contribute to differences in employment outcomes by place and should be explored further.
• The extent to which education policies support all groups to benefit equally from education and careers support varies with place and differences in outcomes by ethnicity and migrant history result.
• Providers of educational, careers and employment services need to reduce variations in access to services. Appropriate approaches may or may not be targeted at or tailored towards specific groups by ethnicity. However, it will be important to monitor by ethnicity how well key groups are served, particularly if the approach is not targeted.

To open the full report please click here.

Caring and earning among low-income Caribbean, Pakistani and Somali people

This research looks at the experiences and preferences of low-income Caribbean, Pakistani and Somali people in balancing work and care responsibilities. It examines the particular challenges faced by these ethnic minority groups, and the challenges for employers and policy.

For most people, the two most important roles in life are caring for loved ones and working to earn a living. Over the past decades, more people have entered the labour market, while the proportion of those providing care has risen too. These developments create challenges for those seeking to ‘balance’ work and care, and are likely to continue given underlying demographic changes and developments in the labour market.

Key findings

• Discrimination prevents low-income ethnic minority people from balancing work and care;
• Many people are unaware of free childcare provision for 2-4 year olds;
• Benefit changes are likely to make it more difficult to balance work and care for these people;
• Attitudes towards caring vary greatly across ethnic groups; and
• Caring responsibilities were predominantly taken up by women.

The report in full can be opened by clicking here.

Cities, Growth and Poverty

What is the connection between growth and poverty in UK cities? Cities are increasingly seen as the drivers of the national economy, and the UK Government is devolving new powers to the largest and fastest-growing urban areas. Cities also tend to have concentrations of poverty. 

An evidence review examines how strategies for economic growth and poverty reduction can be aligned.

Summary findings

• There is no guarantee that economic growth will reduce poverty – in some economically expanding cities poverty has stayed the same or increased;
• employment growth has the greatest impact on poverty, but if jobs are low-paid or go to workers living outside the area, the impact is minimal;
• increased output risks worsening poverty because it can lead to increases in the cost of living;
• some cities are tackling this by promoting employment in expanding sectors or providing training for disadvantaged groups so they can access opportunities associated with major infrastructure projects.

The full report can be opened here.

Understanding Bradford District

A new report published today provides Bradford Council and its partners, citizens and businesses with accurate and up-to-date information about the district. The report offers a descriptive analysis of the district and highlights issues and trends that need to be addressed to make Bradford a better place to live and work..  A shorter summary and ‘in your pocket’ guide are also available.

Key findings

• With a population of 524,600, Bradford is the fourth largest district in England, after Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield.
• Bradford’s economy is £8.3 billion, constituting a fifth of West Yorkshire’s economic output and businesses. Between 2008 and 2011, Bradford’s growth was more than twice the regional average and also higher than UK growth.
• Educational attainment is improving year on year with the rate of improvement for achieving five or more good GCSEs at grades A*-C including Maths and English accelerating faster than the national average.
• Qualification levels are still lower than the regional and national averages.
• Social work interventions regarding children in need of care and protection has fallen, with 345 referrals per 10,000 population compared to the English average of 533 referrals per 10,000 population.
• We have a low proportion of social housing compared to regionally and nationally, but 99.9% of the stock meets the Decent Homes standard.
• We have maintained consistent levels of resident satisfaction; the Office of the Crime Commissioner found that over the last three years the percentage of people who said they were satisfied with their local area has been between 70% and 71%.
• Regular volunteering and civic participation are above the national averages demonstrating high levels of active citizenship.
• Overall crime levels continue to reduce, particularly burglaries and violent crime.

Links to download :-

Summary with chapter highlights; full report including links to supporting notes; and an ‘In your pocket’ guide with key statistics from the analysis.