Employment charge of ethnic minorities lags behind with no change for 4 years
The employment rate for Black, Asian and ethnic minority people has failed to improve for four years – as it continues to lag behind the wider population.
The rate for minority ethnic people was 68% in the first three months of 2024 – 8.4% below the average for the UK, according to ONS data. This gap has not narrowed since the start of 2020, according to analysis by Labour.
At an event in central London, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds will on Wednesday blast “fourteen wasted years” of stagnation and a lack of progress on expanding opportunity for many Black, Asian and ethnic minority people. She will set out Labour’s commitment to a Race Equality Act to tackle racial inequality and drive the economic growth Britain needs.
Watch the Mirror’s new YouTube show Party Games as politicians spill secrets of being an MP
Join us for the Mirror’s new show Party Games as politicians spill the secrets of being an MP – while taking on the challenge of playing a well-known board game.
In the programme on the Mirror’s YouTube channel, familiar faces from across political spectrum will do battle with reporter Sophie Huskisson. At the same time they will face questions on who they are, what they stand for and why they became a politician.
In a relaxed tell-all chat over games including Kerplunk, Jenga and Snakes and Ladders, we hear about how they manage their work-life-balance, how they deal with social media trolls and about some of their worst and best times in Westminster.
Party Games is available now on the Mirror’s YouTube channel with new episodes every Monday at 6pm.
As part of the Act, Labour has pledged to strengthen protections against “dual discrimination” by enabling someone to bring a single claim for discrimination based on more than one protected characteristic such as race and gender. Around half (48%) of young Black, Asian and Ethnic minority people face discrimination at work, according to research by the Youth Futures Foundation published in March.
Ms Dodds said: “Britain is bristling with talent. We have all the creativity and brilliance to be a country where everyone can reach their potential, regardless of their background. But thanks to 14 wasted years of chaos, stagnation and decline, there are still so many people being held back.
“People facing discrimination at work, or struggling to make ends meet in exploitative, insecure work, deserve so much better than the inaction we’ve seen from the Conservatives. Everyone deserves a country that matches their ambition. Labour’s Race Equality Act will bake opportunity into our plans for economic growth and deliver a country where everyone can flourish.”
