Research shows ethnic minority women are unfairly treated in the employment market - 7 April 2006

Economic development charity, QED-UK has issued a statement in response to a report released today by the TUC which shows that women from ethnic minorities are face inequalities in the UK job market.

Chief executive of QED-UK, Dr Mohammed Ali OBE, says:

"QED is appalled but unsurprised by today’s findings. Unemployment or economic inactivity is a serious problem for ethnic minority communities. Black and Asian people have always been twice as likely to unemployed as their equally qualified white counterparts, with women from these groups suffering most.

It is vital these issues are addressed by employers as well as the government as a matter of urgency.

We need to see employers receiving more training to minimise discrimination and improve recruitment levels of ethnic minority staff. Likewise, we need to see the government investing more to tackle educational achievement in ethnic minority communities.

Ethnic minority women should not struggle to find work or be forced to take roles for which they are over-qualified.

Social cohesion is built on economic prosperity. The government, employers and ethnic minority communities must work together to build a brighter and more prosperous future for the UK.

QED-UK is one of the leading ethnic minority focused agencies working at a national level to help address these issues. We are supporting 250 public, private and voluntary sector employers to improve the ethnic composition of their workforce to reflect the society in which we live."

The TUC report cites research from the Equal Opportunities Commission which shows:

• Over half of Pakistani women (56 per cent) and black Caribbean women (54 per cent) aged 16-34 said they often found it difficult getting a job.
  
  
• Almost half of Bangladeshi women (49 per cent) said they often or sometimes struggled to find work.
  
  
• Only just over a third (34 per cent) of white British women said that finding work was sometimes a problem;
  
  
• just over one in twenty (6 per cent) of the white British women surveyed said they'd ended up taking a job below their skill levels compared to almost a quarter (22 per cent) of Pakistani women had accepted jobs for which they were over qualified.
  
  
• While only 14 per cent of white British women had been asked about plans to get married or have children, the figure rises to a fifth (21 per cent) of Bangladeshi women, and around a quarter for black Caribbean (24 per cent) and Pakistani women (26 per cent).
  
  

For further press information contact or Simon Collister or Scilla Baldwin at Cicada Public Relations Limited on 01423 567111. Alternatively, email simon@cicada-pr.com or scilla@cicada-pr.com.