Ethnicity pay data finds men earn less than women

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data confirmed that ethnic minority men earned approximately 6.1 percent less than white men, but that ethnic minority women earned 2.1 percent more than white women.

The study also finds that the pay gap between white and ethnic minority staff in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level since consistent record keeping began back in 2012.

Median hourly earnings in 2019 for white workers were £12.40 per hour, which is approximately two percent higher than the amount received per hour by ethnic minority workers, who were paid £12.11 per hour. This is a substantial decrease in the gap, which has historically exceeded eight percent.

There are, however, higher pay gaps observed for four groups of ethnic minority employees, as follows:

• 16 percent for employees of Pakistani descent
• 15 percent for white and black African employees
• 15 percent for Bangladeshi employees
• 13 percent for white and black Caribbean employees

However, the ONS data reveals that there are some ethnic groups who have consistently earned more than the amounts received by white workers since 2012. For example, in 2019, median hourly earnings for individuals of white Irish ethnicity were 40.5 percent higher than those for other white employees, at £17.55. Employees of Chinese ethnicity earned 23.1 percent more, at £15.38 per hour and workers of Indian descent received £14.43 an hour.

When discussed in terms of age, individuals in the ethnic minority group between the ages of 16-29 appear to earn more than people of the same age of white ethnicities. This tends to change for those who are aged 30 years or over, as those in ethnic minority seem to earn less than those of white ethnicities at this point.

The pay gap of 16 percent for employees of Pakistani descent aged over 30 reduced to two percent in those aged between 16 and 29. Chinese-ethnicity employees below the age of 30 commanded 46 percent more than the average white employee, in comparison with 19 percent more for employees aged over 30.

The ONS confirmed that, when factors including age, sex, marital status, children, qualifications, country of birth and location of employees are considered, the gap appears to narrow for many ethnic groups.