Racial and ethnic inequalities

Many decades of immigration to the UK from different parts of the globe make us a population of rapidly increasing ethnic diversity.

At this online event, as part of the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities funded by the Nuffield Foundation, we presented and discussed findings from a new report on racial and ethnic inequalities. Questions addressed included: How much social mobility is there among different ethnic groups? How do their life courses differ, from the circumstances and resources of the families that they grow up in, to their experience in the education system, to their entry and progression within the labour market? What does this tell us about the prospects of closing ethnic gaps further and the barriers holding that back? Overall, to what extent is the story of racial inequalities in the UK one of continuity and entrenched gaps on the one hand, versus change and progress on the other?

This event was chaired by Paul Johnson, IFS Director, and featured talks from:

• Heidi Safia Mirza, UCL Institute of Education
• Lucinda Platt, LSE
• Imran Rasul, IFS