Closing the ethnicity pay gap
Oliver Kamm
The Times
Policymakers should be worried by new figures showing a “stubborn” gap between the average pay of white British workers and those from ethnic minorities, says Oliver Kamm. Not all of those from ethnic minority groups earn less than white Britons; indeed, employees from Chinese or Indian backgrounds earn more, on average. Overall, though, the gap between white British workers and the rest is 3.8%, widening to an alarming 20% for some minorities (those from a Bangladeshi background fare worst of all). In theory, a free labour market ought to self-correct when it comes to discrimination on grounds of ethnicity: it gives a competitive advantage to firms that hire without prejudice. But in the real world, it doesn’t always work like that. It can also…
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