Poverty, Ethnicity and Education

Title

Poverty, Ethnicity and Education

Author(s)

Nii Djan Tackey, Helen Barnes, Priya Khambaita

Organisation

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Date

May 2011

No. of pages

24

Key words

Poverty; employment; minority ethnic groups; qualifications; learner attainment; educational attainment; higher education; further education; apprenticeships; labour market; low income; long-term unemployment; early years

Description

This paper summarises the evidence from literature about employment and earning benefits of education for different ethnic groups, explores what factors affect the employment and pay benefits (returns) for people from different ethnic groups who achieve the same qualification level, and shows that there are different attainment outcomes for different ethnic groups at every stage of the education system; and explores the significance of minority ethnicity in the type of higher education or training attended, attainment in higher education and, therefore, in labour market outcomes and earning capacity.

Select quotations

“Both the level and type of qualification are key influences on the probability of being in employment and lifetime earnings.”

“Those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds potentially get the highest benefits from education.”

“Rates of staying-on in full-time education at 16 have for some time been higher among ethnic minority groups than whites…Linked to this is the expectation that better qualifications will reduce the effect of possible future racial discrimination in the labour market.”

“…people with Level 2 Apprenticeships earn on average around 16% more than those who have other qualifications at Level 2 or below.”

“In comparison to their numbers in the population as a whole, ethnic minority young people are significantly under-represented in apprenticeships.”

“Ethnic minority students are concentrated in the newer (post-1992) universities in urban areas.”

“Full-time degree graduates from all minority ethnic groups have higher initial unemployment rates than white graduates.”

“In difficult economic periods, ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by rises in unemployment.”

“What emerges clearly from this analysis is that disadvantage does not necessarily stay consistent over a life course. But the evidence presented in this distillation paper nevertheless shows that there is a possible cumulative effect of poor attainment in education. Early years education appears to be critical, and a gap in performance from as early as pre-school can be exacerbated at primary and secondary school levels.”

“…in contrast with the white British, pupils from ethnic minority groups improve their educational performance because their parents and communities value education more, and see this as a way of addressing the problem of disadvantage they face in society in general.”

Link

http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/poverty-ethnicity-education-full.pdf