Women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage earn almost a third less than white British men, according to the Fawcett Society.
The women’s rights charity said the ethnicity pay gap “should be causing national outrage”. Its analysis of pay data also found that mixed race women and women of Black Caribbean heritage take home a quarter less money than white men on average.
The Fawcett Society’s latest analysis looks more closely at figures published in its gender pay gap report published in November 2023.
The charity said the figures show significant differences between groups of women, with a 14.7% pay gap between women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage and white British women.
But there is an even bigger disparity with men, with white males earning 28.4% more than women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage and 25% more than women of Black Caribbean heritage.
Today has been dubbed Ethnicity Pay Gap Day 2024 by the Ethnicity Pay Gap campaign group.
Alesha De-Freitas, the head of policy at the Fawcett Society, said: “The figures that we have here are so very stark. The fact that women of Bangladeshi heritage are earning on average almost a third less per hour than white British men should be causing national outrage.”
The study by the charity also found that 75% of women of colour have experienced racism at work while 42% report being passed over for promotion despite good feedback. The figure for white women is 27%.
De-Freitas added: “Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has effectively exposed and driven action to close the gender pay gap.
“We are urging government to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory as well. But we must go further and ensure that companies with persistent gaps are required to publish action plans for closing and are held to account when they do not.”
