The disadvantage of ethnic minorities is a central feature of British society. The Casey Review into Opportunity and Integration commissioned by the government shines a light on the persistent socio-economic inequalities of ethnic minority groups and calls for deprivation and inequality to be tackled as a means of promoting integration. But who, where and what should be the focus for addressing ethnic inequalities? Kitty Lymperopoulou and Nissa Finney provide some pointers, from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)’s work with Runnymede on local ethnic inequalities

Finney, Nissa

Lymperopoulou, Kitty

LSE Research Online

2017­5­9 Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration? | Religion and the Public Spherehttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2017/02/who­where­and­what­should­be­the­focus­of­addressing­deprivation­and­ethnic­inequality­to­promote­i… 1/5Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivationand ethnic inequality to promote integration?The disadvantage of ethnic minorities is a central feature of British society. The Casey Reviewinto Opportunity and Integration commissioned by the government shines a light on thepersistent socio-economic inequalities of ethnic minority groups and calls for deprivation andinequality to be tackled as a means of promoting integration. But who, where and what shouldbe the focus for addressing ethnic inequalities? Kitty Lymperopoulou and Nissa Finneyprovide some pointers, from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)’s work with Runnymedeon local ethnic inequalities.Image: Flickr, Chris GuyThe remit of the Casey Review was to examine how ‘ethnic and faith groups in particular – havefared economically and socially; and some of the issues that are driving inequality and division insociety’.  The Review  has  attracted  a  lot  of  controversy  since  it was  published  last month. Onemain  criticism  is  that  it  places  too  much  focus  on  the  isolation  and  segregation  of  Muslimcommunities. Another  is  that  the  onus  of  integration  is  again  on migrants  and  ethnic minoritieswho Casey thinks should take an oath to ‘British values’, an ambiguous and problematic notion.But there is one significant departure from policy attempts in recent years to grapple with ideas ofintegration and cohesion. The Casey Review firmly identifies the persistent deprivation and socialexclusion  of  ethnic  minorities  as  a  barrier  to  integration.  Casey  advocates  “targeting  minoritygroups for assistance in a genuine endeavour to create a fairer and more equal society” and callsfor funding for area­based initiatives to address key priorities where greatest challenges exist.Some of the key priorities identified in the review include the promotion of English language skills,social mixing and tackling barriers to employment. Casey also calls  for better data and researchacross a range of issues relating to integration and the development of a set of local indicators ofintegration.  The  Review  acknowledges  the  need  to  understand  how  different  ethnic  groups2017­5­9 Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration? | Religion and the Public Spherehttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2017/02/who­where­and­what­should­be­the­focus­of­addressing­deprivation­and­ethnic­inequality­to­promote­i… 2/5perform compared  to each other on a  range of economic and social outcomes  including  labourmarket and education.The  recognition of  the need  for  targeted  interventions  to address  inequalities begs  the questionwhich groups should be targeted and where?Our  research on  local ethnic  inequalities  examined  how  ethnic minority  groups  have  performedagainst  the  White  British  group  in  different  socio­economic  domains.  We  analysed  this  for  alldistricts in England and Wales. Using data from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses we developed a setof ethnic inequality indicators which measure the absolute difference in the proportion of the WhiteBritish ethnic group and ethnic minority groups who experience disadvantage in the labour market(unemployment),  education  (no  qualifications),  health  (Limiting  Long­Term  Illness)  and  housing(overcrowding).Our  findings  show  that  patterns  of  ethnic  inequalities  are  complex  and  they  vary  by  ethnicity,locality  and  indicator  of  inequality.    For  example,  while  employment  inequalities  are  severe  forseveral ethnic minority groups  including Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Mixed ethnic groups,inequalities  in education affect some ethnic minority groups, such as the White Other group, butnot  others.  Casey  suggests  that  it  is  the  underperformance  of  White  British  pupils  in  schoolsrelative to ethnic minority pupils that needs addressing to reduce education inequalities. While it istrue that the education gap in recent years has narrowed or disappeared for most ethnic minoritygroups our analysis shows there have been large increases in ethnic educational inequality forthe White Other group.There are also severe ethnic inequalities in housing and these have been increasing over time.People from all ethnic minority groups are more likely to live in overcrowded housing than WhiteBritish people. This is the case across the country as shown in Map 1.2017­5­9 Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration? | Religion and the Public Spherehttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2017/02/who­where­and­what­should­be­the­focus­of­addressing­deprivation­and­ethnic­inequality­to­promote­i… 3/5Map 1: Housing inequality (% overcrowded) for the White Other ethnic group compared to the White British, districts ofEngland and Wales, 2011Note: negative score (brown shading) indicates disadvantage for the White Other group (higher % overcrowded).Source: Census 2011And  ethnic  inequalities  are  not  just  a  feature  of  deprived  and  ethnically  dense  areas  assuggested by the Casey Review, as shown in Map 2. Inequalities also exist in less deprived andrural areas with low ethnic minority concentrations. The relationship between ethnic concentrationand ethnic minority disadvantage  is not as straightforward, and depends on  the socio­economicindicator considered. In terms of health and housing, for example, ethnic minorities perform worsethan  the White  British  in  deprived  areas  in  London  and  in  former  industrial  and manufacturingtowns.  Yet  in  terms  of  education  and  housing,  ethnic  inequalities  are more  severe  in  rural  andsemi­rural areas with small ethnic minority concentrations.2017­5­9 Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration? | Religion and the Public Spherehttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2017/02/who­where­and­what­should­be­the­focus­of­addressing­deprivation­and­ethnic­inequality­to­promote­i… 4/5Map 2: Educational inequality (% with no qualifications) for the White Other ethnic group compared to the WhiteBritish, districts of England and Wales, 2011Note: positive score (green shading) indicates advantage for the White Other group (lower % with no qualifications); negative score (brownshading) indicates disadvantage for the White Other group (higher % with no qualifications).Source: Census 2011As  Casey  suggests,  some  of  the  underlying  reasons  for  the  persistent  disadvantage  of  ethnicminorities relate to immigrant integration. Increases in ethnic inequality in education and housinghave  been  highest  outside  traditional  ethnic  minority  settlement  areas  where  the  White  Othergroup  grew  from  migration  from  the  EU  Accession  countries.  Lack  of  cultural  resources  andknowledge of British education and housing systems can explain inequality patterns in relation tothis  group.  So  too,  can  poor  English  language  proficiency  and  service  provision  not  sufficientlydesigned for diverse populations. But the underperformance of Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshigroups  in  the  labour  market  which  persists  despite  improvements  in  educational  attainmentsuggests  that  employer  discrimination  will  also  need  to  be  tackled  as  a  means  of  promotingintegration.In developing new initiatives to address social exclusion and inequalities the government will needto pay attention  to  the ways socio­economic  inequalities vary  locally  for different ethnic minority2017­5­9 Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration? | Religion and the Public Spherehttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2017/02/who­where­and­what­should­be­the­focus­of­addressing­deprivation­and­ethnic­inequality­to­promote­i… 5/5February 1st, 2017 | Featured, Latest | 0 Commentsgroups.    Targeted  policies  will  be  needed  at  the  local  level  to  address  some  inequalities,  forexample education  inequality  and  to  improve English  language skills. Employment and housinginequalities  on  the  other  hand,  might  be  better  addressed  by  national  policies  which  aim  toaddress the shortage of affordable housing and the persistent barriers ethnic minorities face in thelabour market including discrimination.For further details see Lymperopoulou, K. and Finney, N. (2016) ‘Socio­spatial factors associatedwith  ethnic  inequalities  in  districts  of  England  and  Wales,  2001–11’  Urban  Studies,  1­21.  doi:10.1177/0042098016653725About the authorsKitty Lymperopoulou  is  a  Research  Associate  at  the  ESRC Centre  onDynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at the University of Manchester  Nissa Finney is a member of CoDE and Reader inHuman Geography at the University of St Andrews  

Who, where and what should be the focus of addressing deprivation and ethnic inequality to promote integration?

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