New analysis shows massively increased risk of long-term very deep poverty for some ethnic minorities

Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families are up to 5 times more likely to be living in severe poverty for a long time compared to white families in the UK.   

JRF has carried out new research to understand what these families experience and why they have this elevated risk. JRF is calling for those looking to end the scourge of deep poverty to pay greater attention to what is causing its shockingly high occurrence among Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families.  

The analysis found: 

• Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families are between 4 and 5 times more likely to experience severe, long-lasting poverty, known as persistent very deep poverty [1], and protective factors are less effective compared to white people.  

• Work is usually a protective factor, but 7% of Bangladeshi and Black African families where all adults are in work still experience persistent very deep poverty. This is only slightly lower than white households where no one is working (10%).  

• A secure job is usually a protective factor but 7% of Bangladeshi, 6% of Black African and 5% of Pakistani workers in permanent jobs live in persistent very deep poverty, compared with 2% of white workers in temporary roles.    

• Some 6% of white private and social renters are in persistent very deep poverty. Among Bangladeshi and Pakistani social renters this rises to 15%. For Pakistani private renters it is 17%, rising to 20% for Black African private renters.     

• The research finds, for the first time, that there are significant underlying and unquantified factors beyond the standard predictors of poverty that are leading to a higher risk of persistent very deep poverty for people from these ethnic minority backgrounds.  

Official survey data [2] was used to calculate rates of living in very deep poverty for at least three years out of four for Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families. JRF then looked at some of the most common risk factors for someone experiencing persistent very deep poverty such as having a larger family with more children, being a younger or lone parent, living in private or social rented housing and working in an insecure job and carried out regression analysis to see if a greater experience of these risk factors explains the higher rates of persistent very deep poverty. [3]  

The prevalence of these risk factors among Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families still doesn't explain all of their increased likelihood of persistent very deep poverty. 

The unexplained factors 

For the first time, JRF analysis has shown that even after considering well-known risk factors there are still significant unexplained reasons why families from these groups are in persistent very deep poverty compared to white families.   

• Pakistani and Bangladeshi families are still around three times more likely to be living in very deep poverty for a long time.  

• Black African families are still around twice as likely to be living in very deep poverty for a long time.  

Within Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families, different risk factors have different impacts on their likelihood of experiencing persistent very deep poverty.   

For example, when examining Bangladeshi, Black African, and Pakistani workers who are employed but experiencing persistent very deep poverty, the JRF analysis shows: 

• For Bangladeshi individuals, common risk factors account for 70% of the increased risk. 

• For Pakistani individuals, common risk factors account for less than a third or 31% of the increased risk. 

• For Black African individuals, common risk factors account for 57% of the increased risk.  

Common risk factors therefore only go so far in explaining the higher risk of persistent very deep poverty among Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families. There are clearly many other factors at play, including the ongoing structural inequalities as well as direct discrimination and racism faced by Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani people in the UK.   

Paul Kissack, CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:   

“We have known for a long time that Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families are more likely than white families to experience some of the key drivers of deep and persistent poverty in the UK – including low-paid, precarious work and expensive, insecure private rented housing. But this new analysis shows that these familiar and measurable drivers of poverty cannot fully explain the greater scale and persistence of deep poverty amongst families from these ethnic minority backgrounds.  

“Focusing only on these well-known drivers to understand poverty for Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani people no longer holds up. Other factors are clearly at play – including ongoing structural inequalities and direct discrimination and racism. We must constantly dig deeper to understand the relationship between racial injustice and poverty. Only by confronting this head on will efforts to eradicate the scourge of deep poverty in our society have any chance of success.”   

Notes to Editor

[1] Very deep poverty is when an individual lives in a household with an equivalised income measured after housing costs that is less than 40% of the median. When this occurs in three out of four years, it is persistent, very deep poverty. 

[2] The analysis used data from Understanding Society (the UK Household Longitudinal Survey) as well as further data to allow for a robust analysis of minority ethnic households.

[3] Risk factors for living in very deep, persistent poverty include:  

• • Being below pensionable age 
  • Living in a lone adult household 
  • Living in a large family 
  • Living in a household without all adults in work 
  • Being self-employed or in insecure work 
  • Living in private and social rented accommodation. 

For workers, we also consider the following factors:  

• • patterns of work 
  • hours 
  • permanency of role 
  • contract type 
  • industry  
  • levels of qualifications  

[4] At the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we work to speed up and support the transition to a future free from poverty, in which people and planet can flourish.