Ethnic Inequalities in the U.K.

Table of Contents

There are several dimensions to inequality by ethnicity in the United Kingdom.

Pakistani and Bangladeshi households have among the lowest levels of wealth and income compared to White Households while Black African households have high wealth but lower income.

Despite their wealth and income, however, White British people have the second lowest life expectancy of all ethnic groups, and despite their relative poverty Bangladeshi women have the second highest life expectancy!

Household Wealth Inequalities by Ethnicity

There are significant differences in household wealth by ethnicity.

The median household wealth in the U.K. between April 2016 and April 2018 (the latest data available) was £286 600. The range between the most and least wealthy ethnic groups was £314 000 for the White British Group and £34 000 for the Black African Group.

This means that White British households are nine times wealthier than Black-British African households.

All ethnic minority groups have less household wealth compared to White households, except for Black Caribbean households who are wealthier:

If we rank ethnic minority groups in order of household wealth from richest to poorest we get the following:

Black Caribbean

White
Chinese
Indian

Bangladeshi
Black African
Pakistani.

However these differences in household wealth are partly a reflection of two other factors which have a major influence on wealth

The different age profiles of ethnic minority populations. Black Africans especially have a lower age profile than average, in other words they are younger overall, and age has a huge influence on household wealth. Those in the 55-64 age group are 10 times wealthier than those in the 25-34 age group.
Home ownership. Houses tend to be the largest capital investment a family or individual has, and the value of houses is included in the measurement of wealth used by the ONS. Home ownership rates vary by ethnicity and Black Africans have relatively low rates of home ownership, which is in turn partly a reflection of the lower age profile.

Income Inequality by Ethnicity

Income inequality varies by ethnicity. The statistics below (2) are for the period 2017 to 2020 (the latest available at time of writing in January 2023).

Focusing on which ethnic groups are most likely to be in the bottom two quintiles for income, ranking the poorest first:

76% of Pakistani and 75% of Bangladeshi households are in the bottom two quintiles.

75% of Bangladeshi households
62% of black households are in the bottom two quintiles
49% of Chinese households are in the bottom two quintiles

40% of Asian and 38% of households are in the bottom two quintiles.

So to summarise Pakistani and Bangladeshi households are almost twice as likely to be in poor households compared to the average (which is 40% which is the poorest two quintiles or 2/5 or 4/10!).

Black households are 1.5 times more likely and Chinese households are slightly more likely to be poor.

Indian and White British households are at 40%, which is in line with the national average.

The figures are similar for the chances of having a high income household by ethnicity.

Ethnic Differences in Life Expectancy

Life expectancy at birth for females varies by ethnicity from 83.1 years for those of mixed ethnicity to 88.9 years for those of Black African ethnicity.