Social exclusion still blights ethnic minority groups

Ethnic minority groups are still socially excluded, despite the
government’s pledges to tackle the issue since it came to
power, a social exclusion unit paper has revealed,
writes Clare Jerrom.

Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups in particular continue to fare
worse on a number of key indicators including low income,
unemployment, overcrowding, education and long-term illness or
disability.

Seventy per cent of ethnic minority citizens in the UK live in
the 88 most deprived local authority wards, said the paper.

Employment has increased by more than 1.5 million, and the
number of children in workless households has fallen by nearly
400,000 since 1997, showing progress has been made. The number of
children living in relative low income households has also fallen
by 500,000 since Labour came to power.

There are just 53 per cent of lone parents in work; 17 per cent
of older people and 16 per cent of children are in persistent low
income households.

‘Tackling Social Exclusion – Taking Stock and Looking to the
Future’