Bangladeshi families in the UK earn £8,900 a year less than their white British counterparts, according to a study by the Resolution Foundation think tank.
Bangladeshi and Pakistani households earn about a third less on average than the median for white families, while earnings in black African families are typically about a fifth less.
However, the study also said Bangladeshi households experienced the fastest income growth – 38% in real terms – between 2001-03 and 2014-16, while Pakistani households’ income grew 28% in that period.
The report found that typical Bangladeshi household incomes were £8,900, or 35%, lower than the white British median. For Pakistani households, the deficit was £8,700 and typical black African households earn £5,600 less.
The think tank said the gaps were even larger when housing costs were taken into account. It said that more than half of white British families owned their homes, compared with only a quarter of Bangladeshi, black and other white.
The analysis suggested that, while still significant, the gaps had narrowed in places. The income growth for Bangladeshi households, for example, was nearly three times the rate of white British families, while Pakistani households also made up some ground.
The foundation said the gap between the employment rates for men and women partly accounted for the income disparities. It said a Pakistani or Bangladeshi woman was about half as likely to be employed as a white woman, though that rate represents an increase and may explain some of the recent improvements in those groups’ living standards.
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The thinktank added: “Employment rates for Pakistani, Bangladeshi and black men have also increased substantially, with growth of 10, 17 and six percentage points respectively since 2001-03, while the rate among white men has been flat.”
