Britons across the country feel discrimination is common in everyday life while racial inequality is ‘getting worse’, according to a major new British Future study into ethnic minority and white majority attitudes and experience.
The report, Race and fairness in fractious times: Public priorities for racial equity, reveals that people of all backgrounds agree Britain is losing ground on racial equality – but there are disagreements about its causes.
Six in ten ethnic minority Britons say racial discrimination is common in everyday life, and nearly half of white respondents (48%) and ethnic minority respondents (44%) feel racial inequality in the UK is getting worse rather than better.
Almost half (46%) of people from ethnic minorities say they have experienced prejudice because of their race or nationality in the past year, in public spaces (25%), on social media (20%) or in the workplace (14%). The reality of racial discrimination is recognised across society, with 51% of white respondents agreeing that it is common in everyday life.
These experiences are particularly common for younger people: 58% of 18–24-year-olds say they have experienced racial prejudice in the last 12 months, compared with just 18% of those aged over sixty-five.
The report, part of a three-year study by British Future funded by the Nuffield Foundation, also finds a growing polarisation over perceptions that minorities receive preferential treatment. Some 37% of white respondents feel ethnic minorities are treated better than white British people, while 33% disagree (net +4). Among ethnic minorities, only 23% agree and 48% disagree (net -25).
There is disagreement, too, over the causes of inequality. While 50% of ethnic minorities agree “People from ethnic minority backgrounds face structural barriers in areas such as education, work, and public services,” and just 16% disagree (net +34), only 36% of white respondents agree and 25% disagree (net +11). Responses also differed significantly by political support.
These divides by politics, as well as those by age, were found to be deeper than those by ethnicity. There are striking gaps in attitudes between young and old, and between supporters of parties on the left and right.
Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future said:
“Most ethnic minorities in Britain feel there was positive change against racism in our lifetimes, yet now fear that progress being reversed. It is important that Andy Burnham’s government responds.
“It will be more difficult to do that effectively in these polarised times if leaders do not push back and counter the sense of a zero-sum contest over race equality: that fairness for ethnic minorities comes at the expense of the white majority, or vice versa.
“The antidote to that is to pursue a broad and proactive fairness agenda – with the confidence and tools to tackle racism and discrimination where it is most needed.”
The research also asked about public priorities for change. These were largely focused on the workplace: more effort to promote equal pay emerged as the leading priority amongst ethnic minority respondents, 25% identifying it as the most important action for tackling racial disparities.
The report recommends improving representation and progression of ethnic minorities in employment, including recruitment to leadership roles, as a key issue. Removing barriers to opportunity through fairer recruitment approaches, including the use of ‘name blind hiring’, could help promote positive change, the report suggests.
Research comprised two extensive online surveys conducted by Number Cruncher Politics with representative samples of 2,009 White adults and 3,014 ethnic minority adults. Researchers also held twelve in-depth qualitative focus groups across various regions of the UK.
The research was commissioned by British Future as part of its Voices for Equity: moving from evidence to action project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation’s Race Diversity UK (RDUK) programme.
Download the report, Race and fairness in fractious times: Public priorities for racial equity,here.
