Pakistani and Bangladeshi families 'four times more likely to live in poverty'
Pakistani and Bangladeshi families in Britain are almost four times as likely to be living on low incomes as white households. Research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that as many as six out of ten have net incomes that are less than half the national average.
The study, by Richard Berthoud of the University of Essex, provides the first in-depth analysis of income data gathered from 2,500 ethnic minority households as part of the Government's Family Resources Survey. It finds that:
- Pakistani and Bangladeshi families are easily the poorest. High unemployment among men, low levels of economic activity by women, low pay and large family sizes all contribute to a situation in which 60 per cent fall below the unofficial poverty line set by half average household income.
- The equivalent proportion of white households with less than half average income (not allowing for housing costs) is 16 per cent.
- Indian and Chinese people have high levels of employment, and their average earnings are slightly higher than those of white workers. They can be viewed as prospering on this measure, yet their overall rates of poverty - 22 per cent and 28 per cent respectively - are higher than for white households.
- Many people of Caribbean origin are unemployed, wages for men are below the level of their white counterparts and rates of lone parenthood are relatively high. Even so, the proportion of households with less than half national average income is only slightly higher than for whites.
- There are problems in characterising people of African origin as a single ethnic group, but the research suggests that their incomes are relatively low, with 31 per cent living below the 'poverty' line.
The study suggests that even when adults in the family are working, Pakistani and Bangladeshi households are more likely to be poor (50 per cent), than white, non-pensioner households where no one has a paid job (43 per cent).
Low earnings and large family sizes meant that as many as 40 per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani working families are receiving Family Credit and other 'in-work' benefits, compared with only 8 per cent of white couples with children. Even so, many of them are only marginally better-off than if they had been unemployed and claiming Income Support.
Looking at the incomes of older people, the research finds a similar pattern, with white pensioners most likely to benefit from pension entitlements built up during a full career in work. Pakistani and Bangladeshi pensioners are at the opposite extreme, with few receiving non-state pensions and many living on means-tested benefits.
Richard Berthoud said: "The extent of poverty that this study has revealed among people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin is striking and demands greater attention from policy makers. Lack of appropriate education and training provides part of the explanation and could be part of the solution to poverty in this community. Account also needs to taken of Islamic traditions in relation to female employment and large family sizes. Purely economic factors are also important - such as the collapse of the textile industry in which so many Pakistanis were employed."
He added: "The study also demonstrates the importance of means-tested social security benefits to some minority groups. They account for one third of the total income of Bangladeshi and Pakistani households. Means-tested benefits are designed to maintain families at a minimum income without wasting public money, but they also create a sense of dependence on the state from which it is difficult to build a position of even modest prosperity.
"But the analysis shows that by no means all minority groups experience low incomes. On some measures, Indians and Chinese are in a very similar position to the white population. So the poverty of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis cannot be explained solely by the fact they are an ethnic minority."
