Ethnic Poverty and Inequality in the UK

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Ethnic Poverty and inequality in the UK

And ethnic group is a category of people (within social terms) who have a common culture, language religion and common norms and values. In Britain the main ethnicity is white however in the past 50 years Britain has become culturally diverse and now has a mix of diverse ethnic groups (sociologyencyclopedia 2009).

More than half of people living in low-income households in London are from ethnic minorities. This is as a result of the high proportion of people from ethnic minorities in London who are in low income combined with the high proportion of the total population in London who are from ethnic minorities. Statistics show that black or minority ethnics (BME) only 20% of the white population live in poverty while people with ethnic origin show much greater numbers. 30% for Indians and Black Caribbean's, 50% for Black Africans, 60% for Pakistanis, 70% for Bangladeshis. The proportion of BME’s in low-income households declined during the late 1990s up to the early 2000s but has been rising since then (Browne, K. et al 2009). It should be noted that the proportion of ethnic people in poverty between 2008 and 2009 was lower than that of a decade previously, however the drop was not large enough to make a significant difference.The effect of this is mostly felt by single mothers, pensioners, children and refugees who Murray (1994) refers to as a new “sub-underclass”. Statistics gathered by JRF show that over half of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Black African children in the UK are growing up in poverty with a staggering 70% of Bangladeshi children growing up poor (Davies, Hugh; Joshi, Heather 1998). Majority of these immigrants have come to Britain in order to find work however statistics...

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Browne, K. et al (2009)

Sociology for A2 AQA

Davies, Hugh; Joshi, Heather (1998). "Gender and Income Inequality in the UK 1968–1990: The Feminization of Earnings or of Poverty?” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society161: 33–61.

Women and Poverty in Britain by Caroline Glendinning, Jane Millar (Hardback, 1987)

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