HVK Archives: Immigrants swell ranks of British middle class
Immigrants swell ranks of British middle class - Daily Telegraph (London)
David Fletcher, Health Correspondent
()
22 May 1997
Title : Immigrants swell ranks of British middle class
Author : David Fletcher, Health Correspondent
Publication : Daily Telegraph (London)
Date : May 22, 1997
Asians who came to Britain from Africa and Chinese immigrants, are
now doing better financially than the average white Briton, a
detailed study of ethnic minority groups in Britain revealed
yesterday.
The study, by the independent Policy Studies Institute, found that
African Asians and Chinese have unemployment rates as low or lower
than the general population and are more likely than whites to earn
more than #500 a week.
Indian men are successful in gaining professional and managerial
jobs although their average earnings have not yet caught up with
those of the white population.
The study shows that Pakistanis and Bangladeshis live in serious
poverty, people of Indian and Caribbean origin have "mixed
experiences" but African Asians and Chinese are doing as well as
white people.
The African Asians in particular are becoming the new British
middle class - well educated, employed in the professions and
living in superior owner-occupied homes.
The report, based on detailed interviews with more than 5,000
people of Caribbean and Asian origin, and nearly 3,000 white
people, found:
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis: easily the poorest group in Britain
with more than 80 per cent living in households with income below
half the national average.
The men are more than 2 1/2 times as likely to be unemployed as
whites, those in work receive only two-thirds the earnings of
whites, few women have a job and most live in overcrowded homes
containing twice as many people as white households.
Indians: well represented in professional and managerial
occupations and among prosperous small business.
Average earnings have not yet caught up with the white population
but the gap is narrower than it used to be.
Caribbeans: young men have not achieved the same educational
qualifications as other groups and those without qualifications
have very high rates of unemployment.
Half of Caribbean families with children are headed by a lone
parent. Like their white equivalents, they risk poverty and social
isolation.
African Asians and Chinese: doing as well as white people in many
ways.
Both groups include a high proportion of professional and
managerial workers and many are self-employed. Their unemployment
rates are as low as, or lower than, the general population.
One of the authors, Richard Bertaud, research professor at Essex
University, said educational attainment was one of the keys to
understanding the different levels of attainment of the various
ethnic groups.
He said African Asians were well-educated when they came to Britain
unlike most Pakistanis and Bangladeshis - and they passed on the
belief in education to their children.
Although they did well in jobs requiring a professional
qualification they did not do as well as white people in jobs where
success depended on promotion, such as senior levels of the Civil
Service or top posts in business and industry.
He said all ethnic minority groups had to try extra hard to do as
well as white people. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who gained a
university degree, for example, had the same risk of poverty as
white people with no qualifications.
He said that all ethnic groups remained in education longer than
white people but when judged by the qualifications they gained,
Caribbean boys - but not girls were falling behind.
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