Period lifecycle cohort and generational effects on ethnic

Period, life-cycle, cohort and generational effects on ethnic minority disadvantages in British labour market (1972 -2005) For UPTAP Conference, Leeds University, 21 March 2007 (ESRC RES-163 -25 -0003) Project website: http: //www. uptap. net/project 17. html Dr Yaojun Li Reader in Sociological Analysis Department of Sociology Birmingham University Email: y. li. 3@bham. ac. uk Tel: 0121 -4158625 [From 1 April]: Professor of Sociology Institute for Social Change Manchester University Email: Yaojun. Li@Manchester. ac. uk Professor Anthony Heath Department of Sociology Oxford University Email: anthony. heath@nuffield. ox. ac. uk

Government Acts on racial discrimination • The 1965 Race Relations Act, which made discrimination in public places unlawful, but excluding employment and housing • The 1968 Race Relations Act, which made it unlawful to ‘discriminate on grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins in recruitment, training, promotions, dismissals, and terms and conditions of employment’ (Layton-Henry, 1985) • The 1976 Race Relations Act, which extended the definition of discrimination to include indirect discrimination • The 2000 Race Relations (Amendment) Act, placing a general duty on public authorities to eliminate unlawful discrimination • It is a government objective to eliminate discrimination. ‘Though it is nearly 40 years since the first Race Relations Act, it is clear that racial discrimination in the labour market still persists, ’ says Tony Blair and he sets the goal ‘that in ten years’ time, ethnic minority groups should no longer face disproportionate barriers to accessing and realising opportunities for achievement in the labour market’ (Cabinet Office, 2003). 2

Political and historical contexts • Net immigration from 1960 s onwards • Main ethnic groups coming at different times and for different reasons • Main parties agree on ethnic policies • Increasingly tough regulations • Stricter restrictions on recruitment • Equal opportunities for those who are legally immigrants • Many of the ethnic groups now 2 nd or even 3 rd generation (acculturation) • Increasing socio-economic integration as one might expect? • Lack of research until 1991 Census (SARs); lack of systematic research using full ethnic/generation information on employment, class, education, income etc until THIS ESRC project 3

Academic interests in ethnic disadvantages Human Capital (Mincer, Becker, Borjas) Ethnic disadvantages (employment, class, income) Social Capital (Putnam) (Bourdieu, Coleman, Granovetter&Lin) 4

Human capital assumptions • Investment in education, training etc to acquire skills, expertise and know-how • Knowledge about the local labour market • Language fluency Disadvantages faced by 1 st generation: • Negative selection (people with poorer skills opt to immigrate (migrant labourers, guess workers etc from poorer to richer countries) • Language deficiency • Lack of knowledge on local labour market • Poorer qualifications, and home qualifications unrecognised by by employers • Sojourner orientation, hence unwillingness to invest in human capital • Hostility from the majority population, and from co-workers • Ethnic ghettos (enclaves) Disadvantages faced by 2 nd generation • Class legacy (social ethnic mobility) • Lower qualifications and poorer quality of qualifications (lower % in Russell group Universities, except Indians and Chinese) 5

Social capital assumptions • Networks, information, co-ethnic capital • Immigration process by the 1 st generation itself highly disruptive of existing networks but also a symbol of drive and determination which might be lost in the 2 nd generation? • Ethnic geographic concentration builds bonding social capital, useful for working in co-ethnic businesses, setting up small businesses • Ethnic capital externalities (community entrepreneurs, professionals/managers) provide role models, aspirations, inspirations for upward mobility, bridging social capital and to avoid the development of ‘opposition culture’, which has been especially true amongst successful groups such as Indians 6

Empirical expectations I: • • • II: A 1 A 2 B 1 C 1 Optimistic scenario – liberal modernisation, globalisation, integration Optimistic scenario applies more to 2 nd generation than to the 1 st; Optimistic scenario applies more to certain groups such as Indians (or Chinese); Optimistic scenario applies under certain labour market conditions such as buoyant labour market situations such as in the 1972 -1980 and 1996 -2005 but when there is high unemployment in society, there is more discrimination by employers, perhaps due to ‘statistical discrimination’ and/or indulgence in taste of direct discrimination. Pessimistic scenario – does not apply to new, especially visible, poorly qualified, negatively selected minorities Is there life cycle improvement? Did the early arrivals gradually catch up with the reference category, over their life cycle in the UK (Borjas etc)? Is this ‘catching up’ process repeated for mid-arrivals, who arrived during the recession or did these mid-arrivals (especially Pakistani-Bangladeshi) suffer disproportionately in the longer term too? Is there generational improvement? How does the 2 nd generation compare with their parent’s generation at a similar stage of the life cycle? Period effects – negative impacts of increased competition of Threat Hypothesis? 7

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Modeling results: too complicated to present here Main findings: 20

My writings on the labour market • • • Li, Y. and Heath, A. (2007) ‘Decomposing ethnic disadvantages’, for NEP. Li, Y. and Heath, A. (2006) ‘Generation, education and labour market attainment of minority ethnic groups in Britain: A tale of 35 years’, ESRC: Britain Today. Li, Y. and Heath, A. (2006) ‘Ethnic minority men in British labour market (1972 -2005)’, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Li, Y. (2006) Assessing Data Needs and Gaps for Researching Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, for the ESRC/DTI/CRE O’Leary, R. and Li, Y. (2006) ‘Beyond Unemployment: Further differences in Catholic and Protestant performance in the Northern Ireland labour market’, Belfast: Conference Proceedings on Equality and Social Inclusion, Working Paper 10. Li, Y. and Pollert, A. (2006) ‘The unorganized worker in WERS 2004: socio-demographic attributes, workplace characteristics and work-life experience’, research paper commissioned by DTI and RSS. Li, Y. (2005) ‘Exploring income differentials: a comparison between human and social capital approaches’, presentation at the ESDS Government Research Conference, British Academy, 4 Nov. 2005: http: //www. ccsr. ac. uk/esds/events/2005 -11 -04/li. doc Li, Y. (2005) ‘Social capital, ethnicity and the labour market’, Proceedings of International Conference on Engaging Community, http: //engagingcommunities 2005. org/abstracts/Li-Yaojun-final. pdf Garrat, D. and Li, Y. (2005) ‘The foundations of experimental/empirical research methods’, in B. Somekh and C. Lewin (eds). Research Methods in the Social Sciences, London: Sage, pp: 198 -206. Li, Y. and R. O’Leary (2004) ‘Progress in reducing Catholic disadvantages in Northern Ireland’, in Anthony Heath and Sin Yi Cheung (eds), Ethnic Differences across Countries, Oxford: OUP. Purdam, K. and Li, Y. with Brown, M. and Wathan, J. (2003) A profile of the housing and socio-economic circumstances of black and minority ethnic people in Wales, Cardiff: National Assembly of Wales. Li, Y. (2002) ‘Falling off the ladder? Professional and managerial career trajectories and unemployment experiences’, European Sociological Review, 18(3): 253 -70. Li, Y. , Bechhofer, F. , Mc. Crone, D. , Anderson, M. and Stewart, R. (2002) ‘A Divided Working Class? Planning and Career Perception in the Service and Working Classes’, Work, Employment and Society, 16(4): 617 -636. 21

My other writings on social capital • • • Li, Y. and D. Marsh (2006) ‘New forms of political participation: searching for expert citizens and everyday makers’, forthcoming, BJPS. Li, Y. , Savage, M. and Warde, A. (2006) ‘Civic engagement, social network and social stratification in the UK: a random effects analysis’, under review. Savage, M. , Li, Y. and Tampubolon, G. (2006) ‘Rethinking the politics of social capital: challenging Tocquevillian perspectives’, in Edwards, R. Franklin, J. and Holland, J. (eds), Social Capital: Concepts, policy and practice, London: Sage. Li, Y. (2006) ‘Social capital, social exclusion and wellbeing’, in Angela Scriven and Sebastian Garman (eds), Public Health: Social context and action, London: Sage. Li, Y. (2005) ‘Social capital, ethnicity and the labour market’, Proceedings of International Conference on Engaging Community, jointly organized by the United Nations and the Government of the State of Queensland in Australia. http: //engagingcommunities 2005. org/abstracts/Li-Yaojun-final. pdf Li, Y. , Pickles, A. and Savage, M. (2005) ‘Social Capital and Social Trust in Britain’, European Sociological Review, 21(2): 109 -23. Li, Y. , Savage, M. and Pickles, A. (2003) ‘Social Capital and Social Exclusion in England Wales (1972 -1999)’, British Journal of Sociology, 54(4): 497 -526. Li, Y. , Savage, M. and Pickles, A. (2003) ‘Social Change, Friendship and Civic Participation’, Sociology Research Online Li, Y. , Savage, M. , Tampubolon, G. , Warde, A. and Tomlinson, M. (2002) ‘Dynamics of social capital: trends and turnover in associational membership in England Wales: 1972 -1999’, Sociological Research Online, Vol. 7, No. 3. 22

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