Women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage in the UK are earning on average almost a third less an hour than white British men, a pay gap campaigners say “should be causing national outrage”.
An analysis of pay data also reveals that mixed-race women and women of Black Caribbean heritage take home a quarter less money than their white male counterparts.
The Fawcett Society publishes the figures on what has been designated Ethnicity Pay Gap Day 2024.
Researchers have dug into statistics revealed in a big gender pay gap report published by the campaign group last November. The figures show significant differences between groups of women – and an even bigger disparity with men.
Alesha De-Freitas, the head of policy at Fawcett, said the ethnicity pay gap was “creating double trouble for Black and minoritised women” in the UK.
“The figures that we have here are so very stark,” she said. “The fact that women of Bangladeshi heritage are earning on average almost a third less per hour than white British men should be causing national outrage.”
The analysis shows there is a 14.7% pay gap between women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage and white British women. Compared with white British men, the figure is 28.4%.
Between women of Black Caribbean heritage and white British men, the gap is 25%.
Dianne Greyson is the founder of the campaign group that created the annual 8 January Ethnicity Pay Gap Day. She called on the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
“Ultimately, unless companies know what their pay gap is and who it hits hardest, then how can they begin to close it?
“We need more employers sharing knowledge and putting this issue at the top of their agenda, and I’m looking forward to discussing this further at our ethnicity pay gap summit in February.”
The Fawcett report identifies bias as a significant reason for the ethnicity and gender pay gap. It says 75% of women of colour have experienced racism at work while 42% report being passed over for promotion despite good feedback. The figure for white women is 27%.
De-Freitas said mandatory reporting worked. “Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has effectively exposed and driven action to close the gender pay gap,” she said.
“We are urging government to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory as well. But we must go further and ensure that companies with persistent gaps are required to publish action plans for closing and are held to account when they do not.”
It is the first data on the subject since the pandemic.
