LRD guides and handbook November 2020

Tackling racism and inequality - a trade union guide

Chapter 1

Job insecurity

[ch 1: pages 5-6]

Even when they have employment, BAME workers are much more likely to be in precarious jobs than white workers. Taking account of agency, casual and seasonal workers (but not those on fixed-term contracts); those on zero-hours contracts; and self-employed workers paid less than the adult minimum wage, TUC analysis shows that 16% of BAME workers are employed on insecure terms, compared to 10% of white workers.

Young BAME people suffer even more in terms of precarious working, according to a report jointly produced by the Carnegie UK Trust, UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Operation Black Vote. It found BAME millennials are 47% more likely than their white peers to be on zero-hours contacts and are also more likely to have a second job, be doing shift work or be on a temporary contract.

Carnegie UK Trust/UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies/Operation Black Vote, Race Inequality in the Workforce: Exploring connections between work, ethnicity and mental health (https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Race-Inequality-in-the-Workforce-Final.pdf)

TUC, BME workers far more likely to be trapped in insecure work, TUC analysis reveals (https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/bme-workers-far-more-likely-be-trapped-insecure-work-tuc-analysis-reveals)