BAME millennials face higher risk of unstable employment

MILLENNIALS from BAME backgrounds were 58 per cent more likely to be unemployed than white peers, said a new report.

They also faced a higher risk of “unstable employment”, said the study titled ‘Race Inequality in the Workforce’, which was recently tabled in Parliament.

Millennials from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds were 47 per cent more likely to be on a zero-hours contract and 10 per cent more likely to seek a second job.

The focus group was at least 5 per cent were more likely to be engaged in shift work and 4 per cent less likely to have a permanent contract.

More worryingly, millennials in unstable jobs had poorer mental health, noted the study conducted by UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Carnegie UK trust and Operation Black Vote.

The study, which had assessed data collated from a group of more than 7,700 people born in 1989-90, said employment patterns varied among different ethnic groups.

While Pakistani millennials were more likely to be on a zero-hours contract or working shifts, Indian and black Caribbean employees were at par with their white counterparts.

Black African millennials had lower chance of being in permanent jobs, when compared with Indian and black Caribbean and mixed-race 25-year-olds.

The study also noted that despite ethnic minority groups facing more challenges, the “overwhelming majority” of millennials landed permanent jobs by age 25.

Indian and white workers (89 per cent) were most likely to be in a stable role, followed by mixed-race (87 per cent), black Caribbean (86 per cent), Bangladeshi (85 per cent), Pakistani (84 per cent), black African (81 per cent), and other ethnicities (80 per cent).

The report called for government intervention to enhance access to good work, and urged employers to implement internal audits of race disparity after consulting employees, trade unions and race equality bodies.

Developing guidance for mental health services on how to improve access for ethnic minority groups was highlighted as “urgent priority”.

“This report must be a serious wake up call for the Government, industry and our mental health practitioners,” said Lord Simon Woolley of Operation Black Vote.

“The race penalty in the workspace is further exacerbated by mental health issues. It’s a double hit if you’re from a BAME community. We can, however, turn this around, but we need collective leadership.”

Carnegie UK Trust’s Douglas White said “people from BAME communities are particularly likely to enter into precarious forms of work”.

“We need policy and practice to recognise and respond to this to ensure that good work is available to all,” he added.