What is Black history month?
October in the UK is when we observe Black History Month. This is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently has been observed in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, while in Ireland and the United Kingdom it is observed in October. In the UK this national celebration aims to promote and celebrate the contributions of those with African and Caribbean heritage to British society and to foster an understanding of Black history in general. As we foster that understanding it is important to learn how we can improve the lived experience for employees with African and Caribbean heritage in the workplace.
Pay Gaps, a simple metric to understand the lived experience of ethnic groups in the workplace
One simple metric that can be used to understand that lived experience are average pay gaps. We are used to seeing these reported here in the UK for gender but currently there is no mandatory reporting or data collection required for ethnic groups. Earlier this year the UK government did publish new guidance on ethnicity pay gap reporting and action in the workplace, which I wrote about here.
While calculating the average pay gap is simple the factors that drive them are anything but. These often have less to do with pay itself but are more a consequence of structural or systemic issues in the workplace and society that create barriers to entry or career progression for certain groups of employees. Average pay gaps are less about equal pay (being paid the same for like work or work rated as equivalent and equal value) but pay equality, which is more concerned with creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to earn the same.
Data on UK ethnicity Pay Gaps
With no mandatory reporting on ethnicity pay gaps we can use the ONS Ethnicity Pay Gap data, with the last available data set being from 2019. This examines the different ethnic groups in England, Scotland and Wales. In this study, the pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average hourly earnings of White British and other ethnic groups as a proportion of average hourly earnings of White British earnings. So, a positive pay gap indicates an ethnic group is paid less than those employees categorized as White British, whilst conversely a negative pay gap indicates an ethnic group is paid higher.
The data shows significant disparities between the averages paid to White British workers and those from other ethnic backgrounds. The findings were based on comparisons using the 10-category ethnicity breakdown with three ethnic groups: Chinese, Indian and Mixed/Multiple ethnic group which were paid higher on average than White British as shown below.
White Other5%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups-2.5%Indian-12%Pakistani16.9%Bangladeshi20.2%Chinese-30.9%Any other Asian4.0%Black African, Caribbean, or Black British9.2%Other ethnic group9.2%
