Equality and Human Rights Commission

Presentation to UNECE Work Session on Gender Statistics, 6-8 October 2008

Measurement of gender disparities within other subpopulation groups

Moving on up?Statistics on gender and ethnic groups

in the Equal Opportunities Commission’sinvestigation into

ethnic minority women and work

Overview

• The Moving on up? Investigation

• Ethnic minorities in Britain

• Challenges in disaggregating statistics by sex and ethnic group

• Six research projects

• Conclusion

The Moving on up? Investigation

• Concentrated mainly on sex and ethnic group, with some coverage of age and religion

• Understand more about the diverse experiences and aspirations of ethnic minority women in relation to work, including barriers to progress

• Develop existing and new sources of statistics on gender and ethnic group

Ethnic minorities in Britain

• Defined as visible minorities: mainly Black or Asian, including Chinese

• 8.1% of the population in 2001

• Relatively young population, and an increasing percentage of the working age population

• Investigation focused mainly on Black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women

Challenges in disaggregating statistics by sex and ethnic

group

• Surveys must collect data on a sufficiently large sample of the population

• Questions and analysis must be harmonised

• Analysis carried out for specific ethnic groups, not just white/non-white

• Results published for sex and ethnic group combined

Six research projects

• Challenging stereotypes:– Young women in work– 16 year olds

• Students’ attitudes & expectations• The employer perspective• The big picture: 2001 Census analysis• Equal pay: Labour Force Survey

analysis

Challenging the stereotypes of young women in employment

• Carried out before the launch of the investigation

• Sample of 812 women aged 16-34 and in work, ~ 200 each of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and white women

• Not a representative sample

• Used to raise issues of young ethnic minority women’s ambitions and experiences in work

Challenging the stereotypesof 16 year olds

• Factors influencing young people’s choices

• Sample of 1,191 16 year olds, young men and women from different ethnic groups

• Not a representative sample

• Used to highlight key issues, for example that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean girls have the same aspirations as white girls

Students’ attitudes & expectations

• Data from Hobsons Graduate Recruitment Review

• Over 10,000 white British National and nearly 4,000 ethnic minority undergraduates

• Attitudes and expectations of students in Britain: their skills and experience, work plans and what they expect from an employer

The employer perspective

• Survey of employers in areas with an above average proportion of ethnic minority people in the resident population

• Sample of 801 employers, plus a boost of 356 employers of ethnic minority women

• Results used to contrast employers actions with their stated intentions and with the aspirations of ethnic minority women

The big picture: secondary analysis of the 2001 Census

• Analysis of data from 376 local authority districts

• Comparison of economic activity and unemployment rates for Indian, Black Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and white British women of working age

• Wide variations in economic activity and unemployment rates

Equal pay: secondary analysis of the Labour Force Survey

• Pay data pooled from four years of the UK Labour Force Survey

• Comparison of average hourly earnings of full-time and part-time employees by gender and ethnic group

• Additional analysis of earnings of employees qualified to upper secondary level (level 3), aged 25-54 etc.

Conclusion• Results brought together in two

overarching reports, plus a volume of ‘key statistics’

• Set of indicators proposed for future monitoring:– Participation in employment– Unemployment– Progression/senior positions– Pay– Segregation by industry, occupation and

workplace

‘Building a society built on fairness and respect where people are confident in all aspects of their diversity.’