Sociology in the News: The disproportionate impact of cost of living rises on ethnic minorities must be addressed

We have known for a long time that black, Asian and minority ethnic people in the UK are more likely to be poor than other groups, and that there is a strong link between ethnicity and class. However, a new report highlights the risk of extreme poverty that these groups face - which is something that should concern us all.

A new report by the Runnymede Trust has found that minority ethnic households are 2.2 times more likely than white households to be living in extreme poverty, putting them at risk of serious hardship, destitution, cold and debt. This rises to three times more likely for Bangladeshi households. The report also highlights that around a quarter of black children are at risk of food insecurity - a term more commonly associated with low-income countries.

So why does this huge gap exist? People of colour are more likely to have low paid and insecure jobs, particularly women, less likely to own their homes so are subject to higher private rents, and less likely to have savings to fall back on. However the link between wealth and ethnicity is often overlooked by policy makers.

This is a really interesting read that delves into ethnicity and poverty and gives some good up-to-date statistics to use when teaching social stratification - read the summary report here - https://www.runnymedetrust.org...

And the full report can be found here - https://assets.website-files.c...