1. SAC: Race, ethnicity and migration
Seminar Activity: Ethnicity and
inequality.
This is an extract from a report produced in March 2003 by the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit,
Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market. You can access this report via
www.strategy.gov.uk/publications. The following is a slightly edited version of the summary of that
report from the Commission for Racial Equality:
Causes of racial inequality in the labour market The recent report … identified the
following causes of labour market disadvantage among ethnic minority groups:
Human capital (defined as the sum of skill, knowledge, experience and educational
qualifications a person possesses) is one of the most important supply‐side determinants of
labour market outcomes. Children of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean descent, in
particular, are likely to have low levels of human capital. In this respect, boys in all ethnic
groups tend to do worse than girls.
Geographical problems People from ethnic minorities are more likely to live in deprived
areas. Approximately 70% of the ethnic minority population live in the top 88 deprived
districts. In four out of five local authorities where there are significant concentrations of
ethnic minority groups, the levels of business activity are lower than the national average, and
this is likely to affect employment rates.
Poor health can also limit ethnic minority participation in the labour market. Certain ethnic
minority groups, through self‐reporting, are more likely to perceive their health to be poor
compared to white people. This is particularly the case for people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi
descent.
Lack of childcare provision can also prevent individuals, particularly women, from
working. The concentration of ethnic minority groups in areas of disadvantage compounds the
problem of those that need childcare. Studies have shown that, nationally, there were 12–14
places per 100 children compared with only 6–8 places in disadvantaged wards.
Low levels of mobility There is evidence to show that people from ethnic minority groups
are less likely to travel over long distances to find work, that ethnic minority groups are more
dependent on public transport, and that these factors may contribute to higher
unemployment.
Racial discrimination After other factors have been taken into account, there are still
significant disparities between ethnic minority groups and others, both in achievement in the
labour market, and in income levels. People of Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent suffer
particular disadvantage. Although difficult to qualify, one of the factors that research has
identified as being responsible for this is racial discrimination
(Commission for Racial Equality www.cre.gov.uk/research/statistics_labour.html)

2. SAC: Race, ethnicity and migration
1. Draw up a table which identifies from the above extract its factual, comparative, developmental
and theoretical questions.
factual comparative developmental theoretical
2. List the correlations which have been identified in this extract.
3. Looking at these correlations, what ‘working theories’ do you have about the causes of these
correlations?
4. Where have your ‘working theories’ come from?

3. SAC: Race, ethnicity and migration
5. Formulate one of your working theories as a hypothesis and design a study which could test your
hypothesis.
5a. What kind of research will be most suitable?
 Fieldwork (participant observation, hanging out, interviews, qualitative research)
 Surveys (questionnaires, interviews, sampling, quantitative research)
 Experiments (group dynamics in a small setting – quite restrictive for sociology)
 Documentary research (from written records, diaries, libraries, archives, tax records, school
records, primary sources)
5b. Detail the research procedure:

4. SAC: Race, ethnicity and migration
5c. Expected findings:
5d: Who will this research be useful for, and how can they use this research?