IMPROVING BAME EMPLOYMENT & SKILLS OUTCOMES IN LONDON

Prepared by Jeremy Crook for

25 July 2013

2

Education is the foundation GCSE 2010/11

Key statistics• Significant differences in work programme

performance for males (referrals to job outcomes) White males (13.4%) and Black Caribbean (8.9%)

• Employment rate for Pakistani/Bangladeshi women 33.8% (April 2012 to March 2013, London). Unemployment rate 20.9%.

• 25% of on-line applications for Apprenticeships are from BAME individuals but only 10% of Apprentices are BAME in England. (NAS, 2013)

• 39% of apprenticeship starts in London (2011/12) were BAME.

Labour Market: 16-24 Year Olds

• The above figures were published by the Office for National Statistics in March 2012

16-24 Year Olds by Ethnicity

869,000 19,000 65,00057,000

1,026,000

3,318,00066,000

179,00063,000 3,667,000

2,041,00060,000

239,000 106,0002,607,000

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

White Mixed Asian Black Total

Pro

port

ion

of P

opul

atio

n

Inactive

Employed

Unemployed

5

16-24 Year Olds: Male

• Numbers in the chart show the number of people falling in each category (e.g. 33,000 Black unemployed men, aged 16-24)

16-24 Year Olds by Ethnicity: Male

530,000 9,000 39,00033,000

617,000

1,684,00030,000 104,000

26,000 1,864,000

963,00027,000 121,000 48,000

1,233,000

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

White Mixed Asian Black Total

Pro

port

ion

of P

opul

atio

n

Inactive

Employed

Unemployed

16 - 24 yrs. National Unemployment Profile by Ethnicity (%)Source: DWP, Ad hoc Analysis, May 2013

2127.7 27.3 24.2

30.8 34.8

19

44.1

Source: Claimant stocks and flows - ethnicity, age and duration; ONS, from Nomis on 19 June 2013

London Apprenticeships Starts Data

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SELF EMPLOYMENT RATES

All People 8%Ethnic Minorities 7%Black Caribbean 4.8%Black African 5.1%Mixed 5.4%Pakistani 10.3%

A big gap between aspiration and actuality for African and Caribbean people

(Source: Office for National Statistics, 2011/Labour Force Survey 2010)

Explaining ethnic penalties- Discrimination(Source: Anthony Health, Oxford & Manchester Universities)

• Field experiments in western countries routinely show that job applicants with ‘foreign-sounding’ names receive fewer call-backs from potential employers

• Such applicants often have to make twice as many applications as their western peers

• Evidence that ethnic penalties and incidence of discrimination are not restricted to the 1st generation but are equally large for the 2nd generation

• Evidence that discrimination is greater in the private sector and in smaller firms

• Evidence that discrimination is reduced in ‘bottleneck’ and high-tech occupations

Cont’d• Discrimination does not appear to be the sole

cause of ethnic penalties• Lack of ‘bridging social capital’ and knowledge

about vacancies can be important (especially if recruitment is by word of mouth)

• The chill factor - worries that one will not be welcome - can also put minorities off applying

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Overview of Government strategy

• Youth Contract (£1billion) will provide nearly half-a-million new opportunities for 18-24 years olds, including apprenticeships and voluntary work experience placements.

• Work Programme • New Enterprise Allowance (40,000 individuals

support)• Localism - Local Enterprise Partnerships• Regional Growth Fund (According to National

Audit Office a job is costing between £5k and £200k)

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS• Targeted programmes for BAME jobseekers in 1-10 London

boroughs involving mainstream and specialist employment providers with strong links to employers.

• Differential payment weighting for black jobseekers on Work Programme.

• Political will to ensure ALL publicly funded employment and skills providers have their performance monitored to close race disparities

• Effective leadership on this issue is needed from the London’s voluntary sector

• Employer Campaign - ‘Does your company reflect the young people of London?’

• See Key Statistics at www.bteg.co.ukThank you.

jeremy@bteg.co.ukSupported by Trust for London