Equality and Human Rights Commission Presentation to UNECE Work Session on Gender Statistics, 6-8 October 2008

Measurement of gender disparities within other subpopulation groups Moving on up? Statistics on gender and ethnic groups in the Equal Opportunities Commission’s investigation into ethnic minority women and work

Overview The Moving on up? Investigation Ethnic minorities in Britain Challenges in disaggregating statistics by sex and ethnic group Six research projects Conclusion

The Moving on up? Investigation Concentrated mainly on sex and ethnic group, with some coverage of age and religion Understand more about the diverse experiences and aspirations of ethnic minority women in relation to work, including barriers to progress Develop existing and new sources of statistics on gender and ethnic group

Ethnic minorities in Britain Defined as visible minorities: mainly Black or Asian, including Chinese 8.1% of the population in 2001 Relatively young population, and an increasing percentage of the working age population Investigation focused mainly on Black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women

Challenges in disaggregating statistics by sex and ethnic group Surveys must collect data on a sufficiently large sample of the population Questions and analysis must be harmonised Analysis carried out for specific ethnic groups, not just white/non-white Results published for sex and ethnic group combined

Six research projects Challenging stereotypes: –Young women in work –16 year olds Students’ attitudes & expectations The employer perspective The big picture: 2001 Census analysis Equal pay: Labour Force Survey analysis

Challenging the stereotypes of young women in employment Carried out before the launch of the investigation Sample of 812 women aged and in work, ~ 200 each of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and white women Not a representative sample Used to raise issues of young ethnic minority women’s ambitions and experiences in work

Challenging the stereotypes of 16 year olds Factors influencing young people’s choices Sample of 1, year olds, young men and women from different ethnic groups Not a representative sample Used to highlight key issues, for example that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean girls have the same aspirations as white girls

Students’ attitudes & expectations Data from Hobsons Graduate Recruitment Review Over 10,000 white British National and nearly 4,000 ethnic minority undergraduates Attitudes and expectations of students in Britain: their skills and experience, work plans and what they expect from an employer

The employer perspective Survey of employers in areas with an above average proportion of ethnic minority people in the resident population Sample of 801 employers, plus a boost of 356 employers of ethnic minority women Results used to contrast employers actions with their stated intentions and with the aspirations of ethnic minority women

The big picture: secondary analysis of the 2001 Census Analysis of data from 376 local authority districts Comparison of economic activity and unemployment rates for Indian, Black Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and white British women of working age Wide variations in economic activity and unemployment rates

Equal pay: secondary analysis of the Labour Force Survey Pay data pooled from four years of the UK Labour Force Survey Comparison of average hourly earnings of full-time and part-time employees by gender and ethnic group Additional analysis of earnings of employees qualified to upper secondary level (level 3), aged etc.

Conclusion Results brought together in two overarching reports, plus a volume of ‘key statistics’ Set of indicators proposed for future monitoring: –Participation in employment –Unemployment –Progression/senior positions –Pay –Segregation by industry, occupation and workplace

‘Building a society built on fairness and respect where people are confident in all aspects of their diversity.’