Ethnic workers hit as pay gap more than doubles

The gap between the pay of white people and those from ethnic minorities has more than doubled in the 15 years to 2008, new research has found.

Researchers from the University of Essex said that in 1993 white people earned an average of 18p an hour more than non-whites, but by 2008 the pay gap had risen to 43p an hour.

In an article published in the journal Work, employment and society, Dr Malcolm Brynin and Dr Ayse Güveli analysed more than 650,000 results from government’s quarterly Labour Force Survey of employment across the UK.

According to their findings, the gap between whites and non-whites was caused by non-whites finding it harder to get into well paid professions and trades.

The research concludes that the wage gap therefore derives in significant measure from occupational segregation. Where a negative pay gap occurs it is because ethnic minorities tend to cluster into low-paying occupations.

“This sorting is due in part to personal factors such as education ... but some is almost undoubtedly because minorities find it harder to enter better paid occupations,” said the researchers.

Even where the two groups worked in the same profession or trade, the gap in pay has grown. In 1993, non-whites earned an average of 3p an hour more than whites in the same profession or trade. However, by 2008, whites were earning an average of 18p an hour more than non-whites doing the same type of work.