Written submission by Faith Matters (MIE0034)

Inquiry: Employment opportunities for Muslims in the UK

1.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Tell MAMA supports victims of anti-Muslim hate and is a public service that also measures and monitors anti-Muslim hate incidents in the United Kingdom. We have received a number of cases related to workplace discrimination since we started in 2012. This submission is based on our ongoing research into the inequalities that Muslim women face and reviews a number of key contributions from academic and civil society organisations. We believe that Islamophobia is a significant challenge to Muslim women that seek employment, who face discrimination at the recruitment stage due to crude, stereotypical assumptions about Muslims’ cultural differences and who experience ethnic and religious pay penalties. This compounds a broader story about the clustering of Muslims in deprived areas and high labour market inactivity. While outstanding academic work has demonstrated the inequalities that Muslims face, this has not been translated into actual policy outcomes in employment equality. 
    
2.                                                                                                                                                                                                            From 1 January 2015 to 10 March 2016, Tell MAMA has received 43 reports of discrimination. These reports are mostly of incidents occurring in schools and customers being discriminated against due to their religious identity or visibly Muslim clothing. We have received seven reports in this period of direct or indirect workplace discrimination against Muslim men or women and the victims have felt that the workplace either made problems worse or did not adequately deal with the issue. In 2014, we received reports of 12 anti-Muslim incidents at places of work. For these incidents, 9 affected men and 3 involved unknown genders. Many of these incidents affect taxi drivers and shopkeepers. The lack of women represented in our dataset on anti-Muslim incidents at places of work suggest that this is an area of severe under-reporting and the inquiry should seek to understand how to support women that experience discrimination at the workplace can be better supported.

Summary of key points

3. Evidence shows that gender inequality, austerity, and redundancies have affected BME women more severely than white women. Unemployment rates for BME Women have increased sharply since 2008.
4. Numerous studies demonstrate that BME women face ‘ethnic penalties’. Pakistani and Bangladeshi women face the most serious ethnic penalties in employment compared to white British women.
5. Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are clustered in areas of multiple deprivation[1] (including ill-health and lower-quality education it makes it even more unlikely that they find employment.
6. Misconceptions about cultural differences, such as veiling, and assumptions that Muslim women prioritise family life over work leads to significant discrimination at the recruitment and career advancement stages.
7. Muslim women get lower returns on effort, time, and money invested in education than their white counterparts. Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are the least likely to work in graduate jobs even when they have graduate-level qualifications.
8. Little progress in equalities monitoring has been made over the last decade in the private sector, with a small proportion of firms taking on equalities monitoring.

Compound discrimination: gender and minority ethnicity equality penalties

9. Austerity measures and public spending cuts implemented by the previous coalition government had a disproportionate impact particularly on BME individuals.[2] While austerity impacts women in general more than men,[3] Black and Minority Ethnicity women face significant and particular challenges that white women do not, which have been exacerbated by public spending cuts. For example, in 12 London councils, BME women constituted 5 per cent of the workforce, but 23 per cent of the redundancies (Women’s Resource Centre 2013, 7). During the recession after 2007, British Muslim women in particular were affected by austerity affecting their access to employment.[4]
    
10. Equality measures to attract job applicants from ethnic minority communities reduced by 3 per cent over 2004 to 2011. Narrowing equalities gaps in recruitment have not been taken seriously by employers; in fact, religion and sexual orientation were two equality areas that employers overlooked. The only equalities strand that saw a level of parity between 2004 and 2011 was disability.[5]
     
11. Women face higher chances of unemployment due to private sector policies around maternity and parental leave that significantly disadvantage them in finding jobs in the private sector.[6] Taking maternity leave has a significant negative impact; 1 in 7 women did not have a job to go back to and more than 1 in 10 women were replaced by their maternity leave cover.[7] In addition, the pay gap appears to widen for mothers.[8]
     
12. In comparison to white British men, white women endure a pay gap of 16 per cent, Indian women 14 per cent, Chinese 9 per cent, and Black Caribbean women 14 per cent. Women of these ethnicities are better-off than white women in this regard. Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black African women face penalties between 18 and 26 per cent.[9] These ethnic groups have a much higher proportion of Muslims (though Black Africans have a diverse set of religions within this rather large ethnic grouping).[10]

Unemployment and social factors affecting labour equality for Muslim women

13. Pakistani and Bangladeshi populations are concentrated in areas of multiple deprivation,[11] have large families, ill-health, less access to education, and other factors which affect employment and compound ethnic penalties.[12] For Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, unemployment levels are continuing to increase.[13]
     
14. Geography has an important impact that partly explains some of the employment gaps that affect Muslim women. ‘Homemaking’ women in relatively deprived neighbourhoods are less likely to become employed and those women residing in those areas who are employed are more likely than others to become unemployed.[14]
     
15. After controlling for the fact that BME women have higher levels of labour inactivity, employment gaps of 27 to 31 per cent persist, suggesting that ‘Pakistani and Bangladeshi women’s disadvantage is not explained just by the fact that so many of them have young children’.[15] A study British Muslim women found that 60 per cent of women who were not in work had worked previously, and only 47 per cent of them had left work to have children.[16]
     
16. Self-employment rates are highest for Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi women,[17] though Pakistani and Bangladeshis are the least well-rewarded.[18] Self-employed individuals do not build up an entitlement to state second pensions and only 34 per cent of working-age self-employed people have a private pension.[19] Self-employment can be challenging for ethnic minorities, as they are often active in sectors with high business failure rates and have limited access to capital.[20]
     
17. Ethnic minorities are less likely to build up entitlements to pensions than their white counterparts[21] and are less likely to make regular pension contributions.[22] Other findings demonstrate that 9 per cent of Pakistani women belong to a pension scheme (occupational or private) while 42 per cent of white women do, as do 32 per cent of Black Caribbean women.[23]
     
18. Lacking language skills also produce a penalty, limiting access to employment and pay equity.[24] Migrant penalties apply most heavily to Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrant women, who have the lowest rates of participation in the labour market, and of those who do participate in the labour market, have the lowest levels of employment.[25] Migrants and refugees that stay in the UK long enough to increase their human capital, support networks, housing, and access to English language training can significantly improve their employment opportunities.[26]
     
19. Some studies suggest that the ethnic pay gap is due to the concentration of ethnic minorities in specific industries. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in particular tend to be clustered in low-paid and routine labour (though this has decreased over the period 1993-2008).[27]
     
20. Muslim women do have high rates of inactivity in the economy, and it remains to be understood why this is persists despite the growing human capital and level of education among Muslim women and across generations.[28] Pakistani women and Bangladeshi women are much more likely to participate in the labour market if they are UK-born.[29]

Overqualification and access to salaried employment

21. The most overqualified groups were all non-white, suggesting that even with high qualifications, ethnic minorities do not necessarily see returns from their studies in the labour market.[30] 37.7 per cent of Black African women and 36.4 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women with high level qualifications worked in non-graduate occupations, compared with white women who are 24 per cent overqualified.[31]
     
22. When competing for high-level management positions, BME women are likely to hit a ‘lower glass ceiling’: 11 per cent of white women are in managerial roles, while Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are represented at 6 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.[32] Many Asian women felt that senior leadership positions were ‘indirectly’ unavailable to women with childcare responsibilities: despite BME women having strong career and family aspirations, they are penalised for not prioritising only their careers.[33]
     
23. Research has clearly demonstrated that younger generations do not hold believe that women should be homemakers and seek careers of their own.[34] In terms of career progression, BME women are at a disadvantage to white women. Only 20 per cent of the former receive help in career advancement from line managers whereas 75 per cent of white women found mentors, supervisors, sponsors, and coaches that helped them push ahead.[35]
     
24. Finding that most ethnic minorities face penalties, they demonstrate that Muslim penalties are the most acute and add on to ethnic penalties.[36] In salaried jobs, there is clear evidence of a ‘Muslim penalty’, demonstrating that unlike Hindu Indians who are almost 1.49 times as likely as a white British Christian to access the salariat, Muslim Indians are 0.86 times as likely to acquire such a job. Similarly, white Muslims are approximately 0.72 times as likely as a white Christian or non-religious woman to access the salariat - the odds for Pakstani and Bangladeshi women are significantly worse.[37]

Stereotypes and discrimination affect recruitment and career advancement for Muslim women

25. Misguided stereotypes about the life aspirations of BME and particularly Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have a major impact: a striking one in eight Pakistani women are asked about marriage and family aspirations in job interviews whereas only one in thirty white women are asked such a question.[38] In fact, 26 per cent of employers noted difficulties with hiring Black or Asian women because they were worried that they were ‘more likely to leave because of pressure from their families’.[39]
     
26. Young Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black Caribbean plan to combine family and career at a proportion almost the same as their white counterparts.[40] This is corroborated by data that shows fewer second generation Pakistanis in particular believe that women should stay at home while husbands go to work.[41]
     
27.   A Department for Work and Pensions study submitted three closely matched applications to a number of job adverts in different industries across the UK, differentiating the applications based on names representative of various ethnic communities.[42] The study found that ethnic minority applicants had to send 74 per cent more applications than their white counterparts to achieve an equal level of success.[43]
     
28.   There is evidence of name discrimination both in high-level positions (such as management, technical positions, and teaching) and in lower-level positions (support, routine production, administration and carers).[44] This is particularly worrying for BME applicants considering their concentration in relatively deprived areas, lacking equal access to high-quality education despite many high-achieving pupils in these communities.[45]
     
29.    The most prescient issue regarding discrimination in the workplace refers to widespread misconceptions about religious dress that Muslim women experience. In fact, 43 per cent of women surveyed felt they ‘were treated differently or encountered discrimination at interviews because they were Muslim’.[46]
     
30. General stereotypes about ethnic minority workers (while they can be positive and negative) are framed by ‘wider societal discourses’ and are evident in everyday workplaces.[47] Ethnic minority workers are stereotyped as hard working, but incapable of ‘innovation’.[48] Further, perceptions about their language use and cultural practices also served as an impediment to promotion.[49]
     
31.    40 per cent of Muslim women (as identified by Bangladeshi or Pakistani identity) ‘reported that they believe the clothes they wear for religious reasons shaped the way in which they are seen, with assumptions being made’.[50] The hijab in particular impeded Muslim women in interviews. Research demonstrated that ‘some Muslim women who removed their hijab for interviews were successful in getting a job, having worn their hijab to previous interviews and being unsuccessful’.[51] 50 per cent of women wearing the hijab felt they had ‘missed out on progression opportunities because of religious discrimination and that the wearing of the hijab had been a factor’.[52]

Support for Muslim women seeking employment

32. JobCentre Plus and other recruitment centres tend to have a service that leaves South Asians satisfied. They are unable to surmount all of the challenges around discrimination that Muslims face in the labour market. This is corroborated by findings in qualitative DWP research that a number of JobCentre Plus customers had more success using the internet in their job search. Other ethnic minorities and non-minority users felt that JobCentre Plus staff would be happy to push customers into jobs in retail, cleaning, catering and office jobs despite their higher aspirations.[53] It is clear that JobCentre Plus and other welfare agencies could do a better job in helping ethnic minorities secure employment; part of this might involve informing ethnic minorities about the procedures for making a complaint around discrimination.[54]
     
33. JobCentre Plus employees recognise that they serve an increasingly diverse community. Despite inconsistencies in the level of service by districts and particular offices,[55] positive and negative responses to JobCentre Plus services were varied even within ethnic groups.[56] While advisers have been criticised for gaps in ‘cultural understanding’ for South Asians, they are reported to be respectful of religious and cultural difference.[57]
     
34. English language training can help foreign-born ethnic minorities present themselves in a way that impresses employers.[58] Ethnic minorities may not be completely familiar with the ‘unwritten, implicit and culturally specific rules’ that might engender some form of indirect discrimination (as ethnic minorities may have different forms of cultural capital) and while they may be alleviated by more diverse panels on the employer-side in interviews, this does not necessarily mitigate this issue.[59]
     
35. Very little data has been collected regarding the religious identity of employment tribunal claimants. The latest, most detailed information collected by Acas was published in 2007 that examined gender and religion discrimination cases. They found that 65 per cent of religion or belief claimants were men and ‘around half of the cases included in the analysis were brought by Muslim employees’.[60]
     
36. According to the Acas helpline survey, 55 per cent of calls related to religion or belief involved Islam, and 23 per cent referred to Christianity. Muslims and Christian employees are the most frequent users of the service (with regard to questions relating to religion). Employers rely on the helpline most frequently in cases that involve Islam and Muslims. This is clear evidence that employers need assistance and awareness training with regards to British Muslims in the workplace: it may not be enough to encourage more Muslims to apply for jobs; but it is necessary to better educate employers about the changing landscape of faith in Britain.[61]
     
37. Despite the legal aid cuts implemented in 2012, discrimination cases will continue to be eligible for legal aid,[62] though much of the legal advice is now delivered by three providers over the phone or face-to-face (only in specific cases). According to the National Audit Office, the helpline service is very strong.[63]
     
38. It is clear, based on Ministry of Justice data that since the introduction of legal aid cuts in 2012, the overall number of claims made to employment tribunals has significantly decreased. The number of successful claims for religious discrimination also decreased after 2012. This may be due to a decrease (from 160,116 claimants to 74,647) year-on-year in the number of claimants represented by a lawyer. From 2008 to 2013, the number of successful claims on cases with religious discrimination jurisdictions increased, holding strong at 10 per year. In the financial year following the legal aid cuts, this number halved.[64]
     
39. In 2013, research showed that for discrimination cases, 13 per cent of cases in in 2012 involved ‘any other religion’, 58 per cent were about Christians, and 27 per cent were about people with no religion.[65] This broadly matches the composition of the workforce, so this is in proportion to what would be expected but significantly lower than what the ACAS surveys of 2007 would suggest.[66] Ethnicity data was broken down more clearly, with black claimants representing 12 per cent of cases and Asian claimants totaled 9 per cent in 2012 (whites were the overwhelming majority, comprising 73 per cent of claimants).[67]

April 2016