Minority women's 'double whammy'

Ethnic minority women face less secure working conditions, the report says

Ethnic minority women face a "double whammy" of discrimination in the job market, a TUC report suggests.

It says black and Asian women are more likely to be unemployed or to take work for which they are over-qualified.

The report is based on labour market data and a survey by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

The TUC and EOC are calling on the government to look at ways of improving job prospects for ethnic minority women.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the report showed true equality at work was "still some years away".

"Although black and Asian women have come a long way at work, employer attitudes and prejudices are still holding them back," Mr Barber said.

The unemployment rate among black women was almost twice that of white women and only slightly lower among Asian women, the report said.

Conference

The study found black and Asian women were also more likely to be working in less secure forms of employment than white women, with almost 10% of black women and more than 8% of Asian women on fixed-term contracts or in temporary jobs compared with just under 6% of white women.

But ethnic minority women earned slightly more on average than their white counterparts and black and Asian women were less likely to do unskilled jobs, the study showed.

The TUC report has been released on the opening day of its Black Workers Conference in Eastbourne.

Delegates to the conference, which runs until Sunday, will debate a range of topical issues affecting ethnic minority employees at work.

They will also be addressed by Michael Abatan, whose brother, Jay, died after an attack outside a Brighton nightclub seven years ago.