Race and ethnic inequalities

Abstract

Abstract This article considers inequalities across racial and ethnic groups in the UK and finds that there is no single story of advantage or disadvantage. Racial and ethnic inequalities are complex and characterized simultaneously by continuity rooted in historical origins and conditions and rapid change fuelled by new and changing populations and opportunities. Continuity and change are also reflected in very different patterns of inequality across (and within) minority groups, generations and outcomes. Some groups are characterized by high levels of average qualifications, income and wealth, while others are persistently disadvantaged, faced with elevated levels of poverty and unemployment. Alongside different levels in outcomes are varied trajectories, both within and across generations. Within groups, there are less-explored, intersectional contours of difference, along the lines of gender, geography and class. Research and policy must acknowledge this diversity and complexity to inform effective policy prescriptions going forwards.