‘Black and Asian minorities losing out’

Indians, along with black and Asian minorities in the U.K., face an unfair pay gap in comparison to their white counterparts, said a new report released on Thursday.

The Resolution Foundation report stated that, overall, Britain’s 1.9-million ethnic minority workers have lost out on £3.2 billion a year due to the “pay penalty” suffered as a result of their background.

“We find that between 2007 and 2017 the total annual cost of pay penalties experienced by black, Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi men and women would amount to £3.2 billion per year,” says the report.

“All things held equal, Indian non-graduate women earned 44 pence an hour and black non-graduate women 61 pence an hour less than their white counterparts,” the report found.

Difference in pay

Pay gaps refer to the average difference in pay that exists between groups and pay penalties cover the average difference in pay that persists after personal and work-related characteristics are accounted for.

The Resolution Foundation concludes that both taken together represent a significant living standards issue for individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds. The report found the biggest impact was on black male graduates, who were paid 17% or £3.90 an hour less when compared to their white peers. Pakistani and Bangladeshi male graduates earned an average of 12% less an hour.