White men are among the hardest hit when it comes to finding a job a decade after being unemployed, new research has found.

Researchers found that being out of work in 2011 'significantly reduced' the chances of white British men of getting a managerial job with only 23 per cent of them achieving this compared to 40 per cent of the entire population.

In the case of women only 19 per cent managed to secure a professional or managerial job, the research by the University of Brighton revealed.

Of white British young people who were not in work or in education in 2001, only 59 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women were employed in 2011, the study, which will be presented at the British Sociological Association, revealed.

In contrast, more than 93 per cent of young white British men and around 85 per cent of young British women who were studying or working in 2001 had a job in ten years later.

Even ethnic minorities fared better than while males.

Men from south Asian ethic minorities were less affected by previous unemployment or inactivity than white men – of those who were not in work or education in 2001, 78 per cent of Indian ethnicity and 65 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi were employed in 2011, compared with 59 per cent of white British men.