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date: 5 July 2005

embargo: 00.01 hours Wednesday 6 July 2005

Fifty years to plug ethnic minority employment gap, says TUC

There are now more black and Asian people in work than there were seven years ago, but progress is slow, according to a TUC report published today (Wednesday). If the employment rate for black workers continues to rise at such a modest pace, it could take 46 years before employment is as high amongst the black working age population as it is amongst the white working age population.

‘Black workers, jobs and poverty’ analyses official statistics to show that unemployment amongst the UK’s ethnic minority communities currently stands at 11 per cent, but drops to five per cent for white workers.

The employment rate for ethnic minority people in 2004 was 59.4 per cent, compared to 74.7 per cent for the working age population as a whole. (In 1997, the figures stood at 54.8 per cent and 72.6 per cent respectively.)

Having one or more parents in paid employment has a major impact on a family’s finances because there is a clear link between work and poverty, says the report. As more black and Asian adults are currently without work, it follows that their families are more likely to be poor.

‘Black workers, jobs and poverty’ notes the Government’s 2020 target for the elimination of child poverty, and says that if this is to be achieved, the improvement in the black employment rate needs to accelerate rapidly.

Active job creation schemes aimed at helping lone parents, and sick or disabled people into work, concentrated on those areas of the country where unemployment currently stands at more than 7 per cent, would have a significant impact on the numbers of black and Asian people out of work, says the report.

The UK’s towns and cities with the highest unemployment rates also tend to be home to large ethnic minority communities, so Government resources targeted on areas like Southwark where unemployment is as high as 13.5 per cent and Leicester (10.7 per cent) could see a dramatic improvement in the black unemployment rate.

Continued employer reluctance to recruit ethnic minority candidates, even though they may be better skilled than fellow white job hunters, is blamed for the continuing gap between the numbers of black and white people out of work. The report shows that, whatever the level of qualification, an ethnic minority person is more likely to be unemployed. For example, a white person who only has GCSEs, is more likely to have a job than a black job hunter with A levels.

And even white people born abroad fare better in the job stakes than black or Asian people born in the UK, says the report. Seventy two per cent of white people born abroad have jobs in the UK, compared to just 59.1 per cent of black people born here.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'If one or both parents in a family are out of work, there is less money to go around. And as more black and Asian adults are out of work, more ethnic minority children than white children are currently living in poverty.

'Tackling employer prejudice and bigotry during the recruitment process must be a priority for unions, but active job creation schemes targeted on areas of high unemployment are also a must if we are not to continue to see huge differences in the numbers of black and white people out of work for the next 50 years.'

‘Black workers, jobs and poverty’ believes that extending the Race Relations Amendment Act beyond the public sector would have a real impact, and make it much more difficult for private sector firms not to take on black and Asian candidates during the recruitment process.

Government is in a prime position to lead by example and should be using its purchasing power to award contracts to companies who have demonstrated a commitment to recruitment policies that actively counter the discrimination that still exists, says the report.

The table below shows the regions of the UK that could benefit most from active job creation policies, and therefore see more ethnic minority job seekers into work. For each region, the top two unemployment hotspots are listed, except where only one district has unemployment of more than seven per cent.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Copies of the Black workers, jobs and poverty report are available from the TUC press office.

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07778 158175; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Congress: TUC Congress 2005 will be at the Brighton Centre, Brighton from Monday 12 September to Thursday 15 September. Applications for media credentials must be received by 5pm Friday 2nd September. Requests received after this date will be subject to a £50 administration charge. To register and to book a BT phone line go to http://www.tuc.org.uk/congress/mediacreds2005.cfm

Press release (900 words) issued 6 Jul 2005