issue
Major report finds ethnically diverse Britain facing new challenges ?
but homosexuality now far more accepted
Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor
Monday October 11 2010
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launch
Life's winners and losers were laid bare today in an official report
by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into how fair Britain has
become.
The commission's first three-year review, How Fair is Britain, shows
that while some inequalities remain entrenched, new challenges are
emerging as the country's population becomes older and more ethnically
and religiously diverse.
The study identifies "five great gateways" to opportunity - revolving
around well-being, education, work, security and voice in society -
where millions could benefit if barriers are lifted. These should
become the basis to assess "fairness" in public policy, the commission
says.
In health, the report says, the poorest can expect to live seven years
less than the richest. In education, boys are falling far behind with
girls outperforming them at ages 5, 16 and degree level. Students of
Indian and Chinese origin are streaking ahead at school.
In criminal justice, Gypsy and traveller communities appear to be
targeted ? and women prisoners have become a prominent feature of
Britain's jails. The ageing society means that women have a 50% chance
of becoming a carer before they reach 59.
Trevor Phillips, chair of the commission, says in the 21st century
there are still "gateways to opportunity that appear permanently
closed, no matter how hard they try; while others seem to have been
issued with an 'access all areas' pass at birth".
These distinctions are more nuanced than in the past. Race matters,
but so does heritage. Ethnic differences at GCSE are narrowing, except
for the top end where the two highest performing groups are students
of Chinese and Indian origin.
Free school meals, given only to those on low incomes in Britain, are
a strong indicator of class distinctions even at the upper levels of
performance. The highest performing group in England are Chinese
girls, with even those on free school meals outranking every other
group's "educational development" - except better-off Chinese girls.
In employment, a quarter of men of Pakistani descent drive for a
living - mostly in a taxi cab.
"There's good news for some ethnic minorities who perhaps prioritise
education," said John Hills, professor of social policy at the London
School of Economics, who chaired the last government's National
Equality Panel report. "At the same time we are seeing a huge amount
of self-employment in other groups, such as Pakistani men. There's
evidence to suggest that discrimination in the recruitment process
keeps them out of jobs."
Prof Hills said that the report showed "we can both be upbeat and also
know how far we have to go... which is hugely important given that the
equal opportunity society has been put at the heart of the [coalition]
government."
The commission does say that Britain is a largely "tolerant and open-
minded society", which has become more socially liberal in recent
decades. Opposition to working for an ethnic minority boss and
aversion to mixed-race marriages has dropped. Gone too are the
stereotypical views about the roles that men and women should play in
family.
The study says the biggest change has been the dramatic shift in
attitudes to homosexuality. "A gap of less than 20 years separated the
parliamentary debates about Section 28 [which banned councils from
'promoting' homosexuality] and civil partnership."
This is not to say that Britons are not worried by the speed and
direction of change in the country. The commission says this is best
exemplified by the "immigration paradox": three-quarters of Britons
say that they are concerned about the scale of immigration at a
national level ? about the same proportion feels that immigration is
not a problem for their own communities.
There is also an acceptance that however far we have travelled towards
being a fairer society at ease with itself, substantial evidence shows
Britons get neither equal outcomes nor equal chances.
From the cradle to the grave, race, religion, class, disability and
gender can all have a bearing on a person's prospects. But
explanations are never simple: the report shows that black Caribbean
and Pakistani babies are twice as likely to die in their first year
than white British babies ? yet Bangladeshi babies survive as long as
their white peers.
While disabilities often mean lower income levels and life expectancy,
the commission finds that "being black and male appears to have a
greater impact on levels of numeracy than being learning disabled". In
terms of geography, the commission says that "one in four Welsh adults
lack basic literacy skills, more than in any English region and in
contrast to one in six in England overall".
The gender pay gap remains ? men earn 16% more than women on average
and "progress appears to be grinding to a halt". But there are
significant differences among women. Those with degrees are estimated
to face only a 4% loss in lifetime earnings as a result of motherhood,
while mothers with no qualifications suffer a 58% loss.
Disabled groups said they were concerned how, given such degrees of
disadvantage, the government could target vulnerable people with
spending cuts. Richard Hawkes, chief executive of disability charity
Scope, said: "If disabled people in their early 20s are twice as
likely not to be in employment, education or training, then we
question the wisdom of the government's plans to strip away employment
support services to the tune of ?4.87bn over the next five years."
One of the most shocking revelations, given the acceptance of
homosexuality in adult life, was the level of homophobic bullying
found in schools. The commission found that two-thirds of "lesbian,
gay and transgender" secondary students report that they have been
victims of often severe bullying ? 17% of those bullied reported
having received death threats.
"It is a very worrying statistic," said a spokesman for Stonewall, the
gay and lesbian rights group. "We have seen a number of recent high-
profile homophobic hate crimes, including assault, where the attackers
have been schoolchildren or school leavers."
Another worrying feature of crime in Britain is the prevalence of rape
- and the low rate of conviction. There has been no significant fall
in the level of rape or serious sexual assault recorded in the British
crime survey over the last five years. Over a quarter of all rapes
reported to the police in England and Wales last year were committed
against children aged under 16, while that figure rose to over half
for male rapes.
The review acknowledges it is not definitive. It admits to
"significant gaps in knowledge and data" about particular groups, such
as transgender people.
A spokesman for the Government Equalities Office said: "When people
are treated fairly, everyone in society benefits. That's why this
government is committed to tackling all forms of inequality and
discrimination, and we welcome the EHRC's contribution to the debate.
We will be studying the review's conclusions carefully."
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
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