Ethnic minorities are struggling economically in the UK

New data from the University of Manchester’s Center for Dynamics reveals troubling racial disparities in the financial crisis across the UK.

In the three months before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 40% of respondents from Arab, mixed-race, African-Black and other communities reported experiencing financial hardship. This compares with a rate of 23% among whites.

The epidemic has made managing household finances more difficult for almost all ethnicities, including white Britons. But ethnic groups including people of Chinese descent, black people from the Caribbean, black people from other parts of the world and Roma people have recorded particularly large growth in their rates of financial problems.

“People from ethnic minorities are already suffering the most financially, and the impact of the pandemic has exacerbated this situation. Our data demonstrate that there are real racial disparities. This is information that we must integrate into strategies to emerge from the pandemic if we want to build a just society,” says Professor James Nasrou.

During this period, more than 45% of respondents from multiple ethnic groups cited problems.

“Our data reveal something important,” says Mikaela Stastna of the University of St Andrews, “which is the disparities experienced by people from certain ethnic groups that are not present during censuses or other, or are absorbed into the mass. National surveys, especially when talking about small ethnic groups such as Roma, Arabs and those who fall into the “other” category. . . Roma are one of the groups most often absent from data collected during surveys.”

“But the data indicate that they face greater socioeconomic problems: They are more likely to lack the necessary educational skills, more likely to work in low-paying jobs, and to experience some of the worst financial problems.”

For her part, Professor Nyssa Finney from the University of St Andrews said: “I am delighted to share our unique data. It is a unique survey which is more comprehensive than any other study when it comes to reporting the experiences of ethnic minorities in the UK. “It will be available to researchers and policy makers to help achieve greater racial equality in the future. We welcome information.”

Subscribe to our extensive newsletter

Support Octopus.ca for only $5 per month