Low pay by ethnicity
Key points
- The proportion of employees who are paid less than £7.50 per hour is far higher among Pakistanis and Bangladeshi employees than among white British employees
The proportion of employees in London earning under £7.50 an hour, by ethnicity
What does this graph show?
The differences in the incidence of low pay by ethnicity are quite striking. About two fifths of Pakistani and Bangldeshi employees are paid less than £7.50 per hour, compared with about 10% of White British employees.
At 20%, low pay among Indian employees is roughly twice that compared with White British employees, but still far lower than for Pakistani or Bangladeshi employees.
It is instructive to consider this information alongside that showing the proportion of adults not working by ethnicity. Taken together, they show that Pakistani and Bangladeshi working-age adults have the lowest work rates, and once in work, the highest likelihood of low pay.
Lacking Work, Poverty and Ethnicity
Data used
Labour Force Survey, ONS 2007 to 2009
Indicator last updated: 27 July 2010
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Other indicators in Working-age adults
- Poverty in Inner and Outer London
- Working-age out-of-work benefits by region
- Working age out-of-work benefits within London
- Income inequality in London compared with other English regions
- Income inequalities within London boroughs
- Pay inequalities within London
- Working-age adults lacking work over time
- Working-age adults lacking work by borough
- Adult ill health
- Adult ill-health by borough
- Low-paid residents by borough
- Low-paid jobs by borough
- Low income and ethnicity in London
- Lacking work by ethnicity
- Not working by country of birth
- Not working by ethnicity and country of birth
- Premature death by borough
- Low-paid residents by region
- Low-paid jobs by sub-region
- Families receiving in-work benefits
- Working age out-of-work benefits by borough
- Unemployment rates over time
- Unemployment numbers by sub-region
- Unemployment by ethnicity, country of birth and gender
- Unemployment in London by age
- Part-time work
- Job Seeker's Allowance by region
- Job Seeker's Allowance by borough
- Child, adult and pensioner poverty
- London's low income population
- Child and adult poverty and work
- Recession impact on out-of-work benefits
- Young adult unemployment over time
View all indicators
Glossary
Official ethnic classifications:
The current official classification – used in the census and in many of the official datasets used in this research – is based on the following 16-way division:
- White, comprising White British, White Irish, and White Other
- Asian or Asian British, comprising Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Other Asian
- Black or Black British, comprising, Black Caribbean, Black African, and Black Other
- Chinese, and Other
- Mixed, comprising White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African, White and Asian, and Any Other Mixed
In some of the low income analysis, White British and White Other are grouped together to enable comparisons over time, as the White Other group was only introduced in the relevant dataset in 2001. In some datasets, White Irish are included as White Other. ONS estimate that White Irish make up around one fifth of this larger White Other group.
Moreover, these definitions assign an ethnicity to the household, rather than the individuals in the household, based on the ethnicity of the head of the household.
The 'Other' and 'Mixed' groups are not analysed either collectively or separately on grounds of sample reliability. Given the diversity within the groups, we do not present an analysis of, for instance, All Other, or All Mixed.
Ethnicity:
characteristics of a group with distinctive cultural, linguistic and/or religious ties