Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers who have a university degree are two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts, according to new analysis published by the TUC.
Official statistics show the unemployment rate for white workers with degrees is 2.3 per cent. It rises to 5.9 per cent among graduates from ethnic minorities, reports the Times Higher Education.
The TUC has also found that jobless rates are much higher for minority groups "at every level of education". The findings follow another TUC report released in February which revealed that black workers with degrees are paid nearly a quarter less than their white peers – the equivalent of a £4.33 an hour discrepancy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Not only is this wrong, but it is a huge waste of talent. Companies that only recruit from a narrow base are missing out on the wide range of experiences on offer from Britain's many different communities," said the TUC.
Frances O'Grady, the TUC's general secretary, called on the government to "recognise the scale of the problem".
The TUC also set out a list of proposals to redress the situation, including widespread use of anonymised application forms, mandatory publication of staff ethnicity figures in annual reports and the use of public sector contracts to improve companies' race equality practices.
-
Libya's 'curious' football cup, played in Italy to empty stadiumsUnder The Radar 'Curious collaboration' saw Al-Ahli Tripoli crowned league champions in Milan before a handful of spectators
-
What taxes do you pay on a home sale?The Explainer Some people — though not many — will need to pay capital gains taxes upon selling their home
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness testFeature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
-
English literature: is it doomed?Speed Read Arts and humanities courses are under attack thanks to a shift to ‘skills-led’ learning
-
Are UK classrooms a new political battleground?Speed Read Government has issued new guidance on political neutrality in schools
-
Kathleen Stock resigns: the ‘hounding’ of an academic on the front line of transgender rights debateSpeed Read Sussex University students claim ‘trans and non-binary students are safer and happier for it’
-
How 100,000 ‘lost children’ disappeared from UK school systemSpeed Read Experts warn that vulnerable pupils may be recruited by gangs after failing to return to education post-lockdown
-
Why is the government planning to cut arts education funding by 50%?Speed Read Proposal described by critics as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘an attack on the future of UK arts’
-
Schools do not spread Covid-19, multiple studies findSpeed Read Reports from Germany, Norway and the WHO conclude schoolchildren are not vector of infection
-
Universities must consider refunding students hit by Covid disruption, regulator warnsSpeed Read Institutions under investigation as thousands of undergraduates remain locked down amid coronavirus outbreaks
-
Coronavirus: will UK schools have to close again?Speed Read Thousands of teachers are self-isolating - but the government is determined not to order new closures
