A PICTURE OF MALE AND FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG BRITAIN ETHNIC-MINORITIES

Using a sample of around one million observations, formed by combining two micro datasets from the 1991 Census of Population, the paper expl ores male and female unemployment differences across Britain's ethnic minorities. The large sample size allows a detailed multivariate analy sis of females for the first time. Unemployment differences are not si mply the result of characteristic differences or discrimination by the white majority. The empirical work shows that there are equally wide discrepancies in female unemployment rates, compared with males, betwe en the white majority and the non-white ethnic minorities. Of particul ar interest is the comparison between UK born and foreign born ethnic minorities. Unemployment rates among the former tend to be considerabl y higher, but this is accounted for by characteristic differences. Thu s there is no evidence that the UK born are doing worse, as the raw da ta suggest, bur they do not seem to be becoming better assimilated eit her.