Unemployment rates for blacks, Asians and ethnic minorities in the UK are twice as high as for whites.
These data were released by the British Trade Union Congress, a trade union center that unites 65 trade unions in the country.
According to the organization, a total of 1.74 million people in the kingdom are left without work due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the highest figure in the last 5 years. Business closures have a particularly negative impact on women and ethnic minorities.
“This pandemic has become a mirror of structural racism in our labor market and in society as a whole”, – said Secretary General of the British Trade Union Congress Frances O’Grady.
She emphasized that under the conditions of the corona crisis, “colored people” are 2 times more likely to lose their jobs than whites. Against this backdrop, unions have already called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to end structural racism and inequality.
The overall unemployment rate for non-whites rose to 9.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from 5.8% in the same period in 2019. For comparison, the same indicator among the white population rose from 3.4% to 4.5%.
“When ethnic minority workers keep their jobs, we know they are more likely to work in low-paid and insecure jobs that put them at greater risk of contracting the virus. This is evidence of structural discrimination that has led to disproportionately high mortality rates from coronavirus among minorities”, – says O’Grady.
Philanthropists also conducted a sociological survey showing that one in five minorities lost their jobs. Of these, 22% became unemployed due to the pandemic. According to a recent nationwide poll, only 13% of white respondents said they had lost their jobs.
The study also shows that 34% of minorities faced reduced working hours, compared with 23% of whites in a national survey. 25% of minorities applied for a universal loan, and almost one in five (19%), unable to buy even food, turned to the food bank.