Ethnic Minority Working Women
According to the 1991 census ethnic minorities constitute 5.5% of the total of the total female population of the UK. Similarly 5.8% of females of working age are from a different ethnic group to those defined by the census as “white”. Of these 0.5% are ‘other’: most of those born in this country of parents of different ethnicities define themselves as ‘other’. 2.7% are South Asians who may or many not be Muslims.
More specifically 0.8% are Pakistanis and 0.2% are Bangladeshis: they are assumed to be Muslims. So in terms of participation in the labour market we could assume that 1 to 4.2% of the women of working age may be Muslims.
Yet this group has highest rate of participation in government scheme. A high percentage of those who are economically active are entrepreneurs. To understand this we must consider the history of migration and the constraints placed on migrant women by time, place and culture. It is possible that Muslim women would prefer to work in home based businesses and when government initiatives favour small businesses, then such women would be at the forefront of the participant. It is the older generation of women is most likely to define themselves as economically inactive.
They are the group most likely to have been less well qualified, less fluent in English, less able to work in the public domain. But this does not mean that the Muslims have continued to be absent from the workplace. The younger generation of women: aged 16-24 has a much higher rate of labour market participation. Over 40% of Pakistani and 32% of Bangladeshi women in this age bracket categorise themselves as economically active. Of these the majority of Pakistani women work in manufacturing particularly clothing and textile. Most Bangladeshi work in clerical and secretarial.