In UK, Indians earn almost as much as white Britons

Britain’s Indian community by and large has avoided the “worryingly large” income gap experienced by other ethnic minority groups in the country, which continues to persist despite recent gains, a report published on Monday suggests.

The report by the Resolution Foundation, which examined typical household incomes by ethnicity found “significant differences,” with white communities (either British, or from beyond) earning over 30 per cent more than those of other ethnic groups.

However, within Britain’s black and minority ethnic (BME) community, Indians are the best paid, followed by Britain’s Chinese community, based on data collected over the last three years.

While the median household income of white Britons stood at between £25,600 and £27,000, the median for the Indian community stood at around £25,300.

This is not the case for many of Britain’s other large ethnic groups with British Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Black African earning 35 per cent, 34 per cent and 22 per cent respectively less than the white British median.

“After taking housing costs into account the disposable income gap between typical white British households and Bangladeshi households increase to £9,800 (44 per cent),” the report notes.

While the gap had begun to narrow within the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, the report notes the gap remains “worryingly large.”

The report warns that with some £14 billion of imminent welfare cuts the situation was likely to worsen for some communities.

The report also noted sharp differences between patterns of home ownership and employment rates. “Ethnicity can therefore be an important lens through which to view the distribution of living standards in Britain…Some challenges may come from specific cultural factors, others from demographic characteristics such as age, and length of time spent in the UK. Others will stem from the UK’s complex history of immigration….and the changing pattern of discrimination, integration and social attitudes that has accompanied this,” says the report which basis its analysis on official household survey.

Among the influencing factors were employment rates, including for women. While the rate of employment of Indian-origin women is lower (around 60 per cent) than the wider white population, it remains well above levels of other minority groups.

Employment rates for men of Indian origin also remain high, at around 80 per cent.

Britain’s Indian community is also least likely to live in social housing, of any ethnic group, including white communities.

The latest figures will add to concerns in Britain around the fairness of pay, and income inequality.

The government estimates that people in ethnic minority households are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as white people.

In August last year, the government announced an audit to tackle racial disparities in “public service outcomes.”

“The public will be able to check how their race affects how they are treated on key issues such as health, education, and employment, broken down by geographic location, income and gender,” said the government at the time.

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