Not working by ethnicity and country of birth
Key points
- Country of birth makes a difference to work rates for all ethnic groups but to a greater extent for some than others.
- Among the Indian ethnic group, only 15% of working-age adults born in the UK lack work. However, about 25% of Indians not born in the UK lack work.
- Among the White and Black Caribbean ethnic groups there is almost no difference in the proportion lacking work between those born in Britain and those born elsewhere
Proportion of adults lacking work in London by ethnicity and country of birth
What does this graph show?
Country of birth makes a difference to work rates for all ethnic groups but affects some more than others.
For example, only 15% of Indian working-age adults born in England lack work, a lower proportion than for White working-age adults. However, 25% of Indians not born in the UK lack work.
An even bigger difference exists among the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups in that those born in the UK are 15 percentage points more likely to be working than those born elsewhere.
Notably, though, among the White and Black Caribbean ethnic groups there is almost no difference in the proportion lacking work between those born in Britain and those born elsewhere.
Additional Information
It should be borne in mind that the ages of those born in the UK will be quite different from those born elsewhere. For example, there are very few British-born Bangladeshis or Pakistanis aged over 45. The work rates of younger adults can be quite different from older adults, since young people are more likely to be studying and older adults more likely to be looking after family. Comparisons must be made with this in mind.
In addition, work rates can change and vary within ethnic groups by age and over time. By way of example, recent research by IPPR into people living in the UK who were born in Bangladesh found that the proportion of adults in work had been rising in the last decade.
Data used
Labour Force Survey, ONS 2006 - 2008; Rutter, J., Cooley, L., Jones, N., Pilai, R (2008) Moving up together, Institute for Public Policy Research. The research also looked at other communities including Iranians, Nigerians and Somalis.
Indicator last updated: 21 April 2010
Latest News
Supermarket staff 'live in poverty'
The Fair Pay Network has criticised the four largest supermarket chains - Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons - for paying... More...
Case Study
Case study: Laura
Laura, aged 48, has lived in London most of her life. She worked in low-skilled jobs until becoming a mother. With no support from the father, she found it difficult to cope. Her real words are spoken by an...More…
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
- Low pay by ethnicity
- 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
Workless :
People who are not working but want a job and those people who are officially unemployed make up a group who can be described as 'lacking work but wanting work'. Anyone else of working-age who is not working is therefore 'lacking work but not wanting work'. The total workless population therefore includes those lacking and wanting work as well as those lacking but not wanting work.
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