The number of black and minority ethnic (BME) workers in insecure work has more than doubled, from 360,200 to 836,340, between 2011 to 2022, data reveals.
The research, published by the Trades Union Congress on Monday, showed the proportion of BME workers in low-paid and insecure work increased from 12.2% to 17.8% in the last decade. In comparison, the proportion of white workers in insecure work only rose marginally from 10.5% to 10.8%.
During this time period BME workers accounted for two-thirds of the growth of insecure workers – despite making up 14% of the overall UK workforce.
The data also revealed that BME men were almost twice as likely to be in insecure work as white counter (19.6% compared with 11.7%). BME woman were also far more likely than white women to be in insecure work (15.7% compared with 9.9%).
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, described the findings as “structural racism in action”, adding: “No matter your background, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at work. But too many black and ethnic minority workers are trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs with limited rights and protections, and treated like disposable labour.
“The massive and disproportionate concentration of BME workers in insecure work – like in the gig economy – is structural racism in action.”
The term “insecure work” covers people on low pay, on variable hours, such as zero-hours contracts, or doing seasonal or agency work.
BME employment grew by 1.7 million people in the last decade, the TUC said, but 27% of the increase was in insecure work. In comparison, just 16% of the increase in white employment was in insecure work.
The TUC said the UK was becoming a “nation of insecure jobs”, with 3.9 million people in such employment, with the highest proportions in London (13.3%) and the south-west England (12.7%).
It said that in 2011, one in eight low-paid jobs were insecure but by the end of 2022 the proportion had increased to one in five.
The TUC has called on the government to ban zero-hours contracts, introduce fair pay agreements, give workers a right to flexible working and introduce a comprehensive ethnicity monitoring system to assess pay.
In March, a report by the Living Wage Foundation said half a million more working women were paid below the rea-living wage than their male counterparts.
