BME women unemployment stagnates for 30 years

A damning report has been published today in which MPs and Peers argue that unemployment levels of ethnic minority women are too high and need to be tackled.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community, chaired by David Lammy MP, uncovered racial discrimination and other barriers to employment.

At present, 17.7% of Black women and 20.5% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women looking for work are unemployed compared to only 6.8% of White women. Worryingly, this gap has remained constant for Black women since the 1980s, and has actually worsened for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women since 2004.

The report reveals that racial discrimination was a contributory factor to the unemployment rate differentials. Professors Anthony Heath and Yaojun Li who gave evidence to the inquiry estimated that 25% of the ethnic minority unemployment rate for both men and women could be explained by prejudice and racial discrimination.

An African Caribbean contributor to the inquiry confirmed these findings through her own personal experience. She relayed the following job interview experience,

At an interview there were two of us going for the same job, me and a white girl. The interviewer called my name ‘Lucy Smith ’(not real name) and looked at the white girl. I said ‘sorry darling, I am over here’ and her face just dropped. She was very cold throughout the interview. All because my name did not fit the image I was giving them.”

Discrimination based on religious dress was also uncovered, especially towards women who wear the hijab (headscarf). It was found that those who removed their hijab for interviews were more successful than similarly qualified women who did not, and some women interviewed reported removing their headscarf in order to find work.

Furthermore, government research from 2008 confirms that racial discrimination is a significant factor with an applicant with an African or Asian sounding name needing to send twice as many job applications to secure an interview.

Commenting, David Lammy MP said:

Despite the overwhelming evidence, the unnaturally high unemployment rates of women in black and minority ethnic (BME) communities has been given fleeting attention. This has massive implications for families and society as a whole – particularly given the large numbers for Black families where the mother is the sole breadwinner and the high poverty rates of Pakistani and Bangladeshi families”.

OBV believe that the already disproportionately high levels of of BME women unemployed is only going to worsen through the public sector job cuts. Given that almost half of Black Caribbean women worked in the public sector before public sector job cuts hit, the need for government to effectively address the report findings is urgent.

Francine Fernandes