LONDON

Black and ethnic minority people are 2.5 times more likely to face poverty in the UK than white people, a new report suggested.

An analytical report by Runnymede – a think tank on race equality – said the average incomes for Black and minority ethnic people have “fallen faster and deeper” by 6% than they have for white people by 1% over the last decade, with the trend becoming “particularly pronounced since the start of COVID-19.”

“Despite only making up around 15% of the population in the UK, more than a quarter (26%) of those in ‘deep poverty’ are from a Black and minority ethnic background, and make up a growing share of those on the lowest incomes,” it added.

“As a result, Black and minority ethnic people are currently 2.2 times more likely to be in deep poverty than white people, with Bangladeshi people more than three times more likely.”

The report said the country’s tax and social security system has been “highly regressive” but also “racialized.”

White families now receive £454 ($515) less a year on average in cash benefits than they did a decade ago but the same figure rises to £806 less annually for Black and minority ethnic families and even higher to £1,635 for Black families, according to the report.

“Black and minority ethnic women have been some of the worst affected and currently receive £1,040 less than they did a decade ago.”

The report also says that these developments have left many Black and minority ethnic households “disproportionately exposed to the current cost-of-living crisis.”

It said: “In nominal and relative terms, the ‘Energy Price Guarantee’ announced earlier this month will lift more white households out of fuel poverty than Black and minority ethnic households.”

So, 32% of white people are "likely to experience fuel poverty this winter compared to more than half (52%) of Black and minority ethnic people," with the figure rising to "66% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi people.”