40 years after Brixton riots over 40% young black Britons

Tuesday 13th April 2021 11:24 EDT
 

More than 40% young Black Britons are unemployed faring three times worse than white workers of the same age according to an analysis by The Guardian analysis.

The black youth unemployment rate was the same in the last quarter of 2020 as in the early 1980s, around the time that the Brixton riots occurred. Forty years on from the Brixton riots, which spread across the UK during a recession in which black people lost their jobs in disproportionate numbers, experts have warned that coronavirus has exposed deep-rooted inequalities that still exist in the employment market.

Between October and December 2020, 41.6% of black people aged 16-24 years were unemployed – the highest rate since the last financial crisis, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals. Unemployment among white workers of the same age stood at to 12.4%. According to the ONS the data was weighted to official population projections from 2018, contained estimates of the number of 16- to 24-year-olds in the labour market and was not seasonally adjusted, while noting that demographic breakdowns reduced sample sizes.


comments powered by Disqus



to the free, weekly Asian Voice email newsletter