Key findings

• • Younger (aged 25-49) White men had a consistent advantage in the labour market between 1991 and 2011 compared with those in other ethnic groups, who were more likely to be not working or working in less secure employment.

• • White women aged 25-49 also had a consistent employment advantage over the last 20 years compared with women in other ethnic groups.

• • Exceptions to the pattern of White advantage were Indian and Chinese men, whose initial high unemployment and self-employment rates converged with those of the White group over the 20-year period. Black Caribbean women had similar labour market participation rates to White women from 1991 to 2011.

• • At older ages (50-74), Black African men and women had the highest rates of labour market participation over the past 20 years. This is likely due to the age structure of the Black African group, where there are relatively few people aged over 65.

• • Younger Pakistani and Bangladeshi men saw large falls in unemployment rates over the period 1991-2011 (respectively, from 25 to 10 per cent and from 26 to 11 per cent), but unemployment rates for these groups remain much higher than for White men.

• • Black Caribbean and Black African younger men had rates of unemployment consistently more than double those of White men throughout the period 1991-2011.

• • For Bangladeshi men, the fall in unemployment was balanced by a rise in part-time work; the 11-fold increase in part-time work for this group between 1991 and 2011 was larger than for any other ethnic group. In 2011, over one-third of Bangladeshi working men were employed part time.

• • Pakistani and Bangladeshi women were the least likely, in the 25- to 49-year-old age group, to be in the labour market, but also experienced the highest rises in rates of economic activity between 1991 and 2011 (from 24 to 43 per cent for Pakistani women and from 17 to 40 per cent for Bangladeshi women).

• • In the 50- to 74-year-old age group Pakistani and Bangladeshi women were the least likely to be in the labour market. From 1991 to 2011, these were the only groups that had increases in the proportion of women out of the labour market due to sickness.

• • The advantage of younger White women in relation to unemployment reduced over the period, but was still present in 2011.