Cost of living crisis disproportionately impacting ethnic minority workers, claims new study

Ethnic minority professionals are more likely to borrow money, move in with family members and skip meals due to the cost of living crisis

The UK’s cost of living crisis is disproportionately affecting ethnic minority workers, with new research revealing that professionals from racially diverse backgrounds are at greater risk of redundancies, debt and poor mental health.

Non-profit organisation People Like Us surveyed over 2,000 workers from Black, Asian, mixed-race and minority ethnic backgrounds to find that more than half (52 per cent) said government support will not see them through the next six months, a rate seven per cent higher than their white counterparts.

Financial concerns are causing them to dip into savings at a greater rate, with ethnic minority professionals more likely to borrow money, move in with family members and skip meals due to the cost of living crisis.

Redundancy worries are also worse for workers from Black, Asian, mixed-race and minority ethnic backgrounds, with 41 per cent worried that they will lose their job due to rising costs, compared with 27 per cent of those from a white British background.

Such anxieties have led to over half of workers polled (56 per cent) feeling despair about the increased cost of living.

Now, People Like Us is calling for the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and asking the British public to sign this petition to show their support for this, in a bid to introduce greater transparency about the disproportionate impact of the cost of living crisis on ethnic minority workers.

Research conducted by the company in early 2022 found that professionals from racially diverse backgrounds were paid just 84 per cent of what their white counterparts earn.

Over half of workers polled said they felt despair about the increased cost of living (Getty Images)

While the issue was debated in parliament in 2021, a clear timeline as to when such reporting will be implemented has not been announced.

Sheeraz Gulsher, co-founder of People Like Us said: “We need to make businesses accountable for their pay disparities. Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has started to get the wheels in motion to begin to address the balance between men and women, and we are now calling for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting to do the same on the grounds of race.”

Dianne Greyson, founder of the #EthnicityPayGap Campaign added: “This report recognises that Black, Asian and other ethnic groups are continuously penalised by societal structures.

“It also identifies the pressures of austerity which are very much entrenched thus causing a catastrophic existence for too many Black, Asian and other Ethnic groups.

“The Ethnicity Pay Gap cannot be allowed to continue. The government must listen and take action and work with organisations such as #EthnicityPayGap Campaign and People Like Us to deliver a clear and actionable strategy. We also believe that the government needs to incorporate an addendum to their strategy that includes evidence of a planned strategy to close the gap.

“I would encourage all businesses of all sizes to support this People Like Us petition and pass it on to anyone and everyone – together we can make a difference and right this outdated wrong.”