Indians Better Placed Than Pakistani, Bangladeshi Families in UK: Study

Indian households are placed better than those from Pakistan and Bangladesh in terms of income, home ownership and female employment among the different ethnicities living in Britain, a new study shows. A typical Bangladeshi household earns about £8,900 a year, less than the white British median, according to a study conducted by the thinktank, Resolution Foundation.

The typical incomes for White British and other White are over £25,000, and the Indian and Chinese fall in the similar categories. But Pakistani and Bangladeshi households are placed at the bottom of the chart, with a typical Bangladeshi household income being £8,900 (35 per cent) lower than the White British median and Pakistani households earning £8,700 less (34 per cent). These are lower than the typical Black African and Caribbean incomes, with a typical Black African family earning £5,600 pounds (22 per cent) less than that of a white household, the study, titled ‘Diverse outcomes Living standards by ethnicity’, revealed.

Income growth for Minority Communities

The incomes for these ethnic groups were, however beginning to grow now, it said. While Pakistani and Bangladeshi households have the lowest typical incomes of these groups, they have also seen the strongest income growth since 2001-03, narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest income group.

Home Ownership

The Indian population also fares better when home ownership is considered. The study shows that  White British (and White Irish) home ownership is considerably higher than that of other groups, followed by the Indian population. For the Bangladeshi, Black and Other White (primarily European) population, only around one in four family units own their own home.

Employment Rate of Women

According to the study, the disparities in living standards among members of different ethnic communities stems to a great extent from the employment rates of females in these groups. While Pakistani and Bangladeshi female employment is very low — 37 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, Indian female employment rate is 64 per cent, behind the corresponding figures of about 70 per cent for Black Caribbean and  72 per cent for white women.

The figures for employment rates for men reveal that those for Indians reached record high in 2016, reaching close to the 80 per cent employment rate of the white population. Growth rate for Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi men grew rapidly, rising by 6, 10 and 17 percentage points, respectively, since 2001-03, but remained much lower than Indian and Chinese.

“Differences in living standards between ethnicities in Britain too often go ignored,” Adam Corlett, the senior economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said, Guardian reported. “This matters because income gaps between different minority ethnic groups and white British households are significant and persistent.”