BAME workers over twice as likely to be unemployed

Back and ethnic minority workers are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as White workers, according to TUC analysis of new labour market statistics released to mark its Black workers’ conference at the end of May.

The union body’s scrutiny of figures from the Office for National Statistics found that 6.9% of BAME workers are out of work compared to 3.2% of White staff, with BAME women nearly three times more likely to be unemployed than White women – 8.1% against 2.8% – a situation that has declined over the last 15 years.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak responded to the findings by calling on the government to end structural discrimination and inequalities by introducing mandatory pay gap reporting on ethnicity, as well as acting to reduce insecure work, such as zero hours contracts, which disproportionately affect BAME employees.

“Ministers must take bold action to confront this inequality, " he said. “The obvious first step is forcing bigger companies to disclose their ethnicity pay gaps.

“Business and unions are united in their support for compulsory pay gap monitoring. Ministers must bring it in without delay.”