Unemployment effects hit white men hard

Dr Carolina Zuccotti and Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly, of the University of Brighton’s Business School, analysed census data on 57,385 people aged 16-29 in 2001 in England and Wales to study the long-term effects of unemployment on young people of different ethnicity.

Of white British young people who were not in work or in education in 2001, only 59% of men and 50% of women were employed in 2011, they will tell the British Sociological Association’s conference on work, employment and society in Leeds Wednesday 7 September.

In contrast, more than 93% of men and around 85% of women who were studying or working in 2001 had a job in 2011.

The effect of being out of work or education in 2001 also reduced young people’s chances of having a professional or managerial job in 2011, with only 23% of white British men and 19% women achieving this – while the average probability of achieving this position for the entire population under study was more than 40%.

When factors such as growing up in a poor neighbourhood and having limited education were excluded, people who were not employed or in education in 2001 were 18% points less likely to be employed in 2011 than those who were employed.

Dr Carolina Zuccotti

Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly

People from ethnic minorities were affected to different extent, the researchers found.

Men from south Asian ethnic minorities were less affected by previous unemployment or inactivity than white men – of those who were not in work or education in 2001, 78% of Indian ethnicity and 65% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi were employed in 2011, compared with 59% of white British men.

When factors such as growing up in a poor neighbourhood and having limited education were excluded, south Asian young men who were not in work or in education in 2001 were between 5% and 10% points more likely to be employed in 2011 than their white British counterparts.

Dr Zuccotti said: “We observe that young men from ethnic minority backgrounds who were not working or studying in 2001 have similar or even higher probabilities of being in work in 2011 as compared to the white British.

“The fact that some ethnic minorities are less penalized from previous unemployment or inactivity compared to some of their white British counterparts is in part good news in terms of integration processes.

“However, significant concerns remain regarding employment probabilities among young white British men, but also among ethnic minority women, who are increasingly left behind.”

Women from ethnic minorities in particular, Pakistani and Bangladeshi, had lower employment levels in 2011 as compared to the white British, even after individual and class background characteristics are taken into consideration.

She said that the reason for this might not solely be because of discrimination by employers. “While discrimination might be part of the story, cultural values might certainly be part of the explanations.”

The data examined by the researchers included people who had arrived in the UK as children or grown up in the UK.