Bangladeshi households in 1990s Britain were by far the poorest ethnic group

Evidence

In terms of income 82 percent of Bangladeshi households had below half average income (compared with 28 percent of whites and approximately 40 percent for other groups) (Modood et al., 1997). Income from self-employment formed a lower proportion of total income of households headed by a member of a black ethnic group (3 percent) and a higher proportion for those whose head of household was of Indian origin (16 percent) than those headed by members of other ethnic groups. These harsh realities lay underneath the celebration of diversity proclaimed by the Labour government. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3021

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the gap between ‘diversity talk’ and actual material inequality — what a celebratory multicultural branding conceals about distribution of income.