How Fair is Britain?2010

The EHRC first Triennial ReviewEquality indicators in practice

The Equality Act (2006) gave the EHRC a statutory duty to:

1. Identify outcomes and indicators that measure society’s progress towards our mandates2. Monitor progress towards each identified outcome by reference to relevant indicators, producing regular reports.

(Section 12 of the Equality Act, 2006).

How Fair is Britain? is the first of a 3-year cycle of reports of this progress.

The Equality Measurement Framework

Part I – A new landscape

Part II – Critical issues facing Britain today1) Life 2) Legal security 3) Physical security 4) Health5) Care and support 6) Education7) Employment 8) Standard of living9) Power and voice

Part III – Findings and challenges

Structure of the Report

Indicators Some key findings

(6) Life:Life expectancy; Mortal illness;Suicide; Accidental death; Homicide; Deaths in institutions

•Women on average live for 4 years longer than men•Men and women in the highest socio-economic group can expect to live 7 years longer than those in lower socio-economic groups•Infants under the age of 1 are more likely to be a victim of homicide than any other age group.•Three times as many men as women commit suicide.•Suicide rates amongst men in Scotland are higher than England

(7) Legal security:Equal treatment by the criminal justice system; Offences reported and brought to justice; Prison numbers and conditions

•Black an Asian people are disproportionately affected by stop-and-search.•Young people with disabilities are less likely to feel fairly treated by the criminal justice system•Ethnic minorities are overly-represented in the custodial system. •Muslim people make up 12% of the prison population

Indicators Some key findings

(8) Physical security:Crimes against the person; Targeted violence; Fear of crime

•1 in 4 women have experienced domestic abuse. •Three quarters of domestic violence offences are repeat offences•Over a quarter of all rapes were committed against children under 16

(9) Health:‘Poor’ health and limiting long-term illness or disability; Poor mental health;Living a healthy lifestyle;Dignity and respect in health treatment

•Gypsy and Traveller people report having the worst health outcomes•A quarter of Pakistani and Bangladeshi people report having a LLTI or disability. •Bangladeshi men are twice as likely to have mental health issues than White men. •Evidence suggests the mental health issues are a serious concern for the both LGB and Transgender populations

Indicators Some key findings

(10) Education:Level of development at age 5; Permanent exclusion from school; Educational attainment at age 16; Participation in higher education; Adult skills and qualifications; Adult learning; Use of the internet

•Girls routinely outperform boys throughout the educatory process•Gypsy and Traveller students perform worst•Disabled children also perform worse than non-disabled children, and are much more likely to be excluded from school. •Black and Gypsy and Traveller children are also more likely to be excluded than average•Bullying affects many children. LGB and Transgender, and disabled are most likely to report being bullied. Victims of bullying do 15% worse at GCSE than average•Black students are less than two-thirds as likely to get a good degree as White students•33% of working age Muslim women have no qualifications, and only 9% have a degree•Being Black and male has potentially greater impact on levels of numeracy than being learning disabled

Indicators Some key findings

(11) Employment:Employment; Pay gaps; Occupational segregation; Illness and injury at work; Discrimination in employment

•People with disabilities experience an 11% pay gap•45% of disabled people in their early 20s are NEET (not in education, employment, or training)•1 in 4 Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are employed•Only 47% of Muslim men, and 24% of Muslim women are employed. 42% of young Muslim people are NEET•Women occupy 77% of administration/secretarial roles, and 83% of personal service roles. •Only 6% of engineers and 14% of architects are women.•Women occupy 1 in 3 managerial jobs in Britain

(12) Standard of Living:Wealth; Low pay and low income; Housing and neighbourhood quality;Financial exclusion

•Wealth of the top 10% of households is almost a hundred times greater than the bottom 10% (£853,000 to £8,800)•1 in 5 people live in households below the 60% of median income level. This level is 1 in 4 for households with a disabled person, and 1 in 3 for Bangladeshi-headed households•Nearly three-quarters of Bangladeshi and half of Black African children grow up in poverty

Indicators Some key findings

(13) Care and support:Access to care; Access to childcare; Unpaid care responsibilities

•Lone parents, non-working parents, parents with disabled children, and lower income parents use less childcare, and it is less likely to be formal childcare•1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 men in their 50s are carers. By the time they are 59, women have a 50% chance of providing care•175,000 people under the age of 18 have care responsibilities. 273,000 of people aged 16-74 provide unpaid care despite being sick or disabled themselves.

(14) Power and voice:Formal political participation; Perceptions of influence; Political activity;Taking part in decision-making and campaigning organisations

•A minority of people under the age of 25 now vote in general and devolved elections•The number of MPs over 50 has increased since 1997. Religious and ethnic minorities are still underrepresented in Parliament. •Less than 25% of MPs are women•LGB people are more likely to be involved in informal civic or political actions than average

Fair Treatment at Work : our employment indicators

• Employment rate• NEET rate• Pay gap• Occupational segregation• Illness/injury at work• Perceptions of discrimination

And Low pay

Intersection: multiple disadvantage

Employed full time:

• Ethnicity and Gender – 13% Pakistani women– 40% White British Women

• Religion and Gender – 46% Black Caribbean Women– 14% Muslim women– 60% Christian women and women with no religion

Limitations

• Age as a characteristic• Inconsistent across indicators• Sample sizes• Socio-economic/ethnicity/religion

characteristics