White/ethnic minority earnings and employment differentials in Britain: evidence from the LFS

It is twenty years since Britain passed legislation to combat racial discrimination. Despite this, evidence presented in this paper suggests that Britain's non-white ethnic minorities still do not appear to face a level playing field in the UK labour market and their relative position does not appear to have improved since the 1970s. Native ethnic minorities also appear to be faring little better than their parents. It is in gaining employment that the situation is particularly acute. Keywords : Discrimination; Earnings; Unemployment JEL classification : J71 * Economics Department ** Economics Department University of Wales Swansea Manchester Metropolitan University Swansea Manchester SA2 8PP M15 6BG UK UK Acknowledgements We are grateful to those taking part at the April 1998 European Science Foundation Conference on Migration and Development, Espinho, Portugal and to Stephen Wheatley Price for comments on an earlier copy of this paper. Helpful suggestions and comments have a...