Census ethnicity categories poorly capture British Muslim experience as proxies

Evidence

Given evidence of a specific ‘Muslim penalty’ across different sectors, and the diversity of the Muslim population, using existing census group ethnicity categories cannot capture the experience of Muslims in the public and private sectors. This should be part of wider efforts of public services and employers to improve their data collection, including response rates, on ethnic monitoring. Historically, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group categories were used as proxies for Muslim; these groups currently account for just over half (55%) of British Muslims. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 112

Categorization

• SHARE: The 55% statistic — Pakistani and Bangladeshi categories cover only just over half of British Muslims — is a precise, niche datum for anyone working on UK data/equality monitoring.
• XREF: connects to: British ‘ethnic minority’ communities are internally diverse and not segregated ghettos; Ethnic categories fail to capture the distinct experience of British Muslims. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 59; Existing census ethnicity categories fail to capture Muslim experience as a distinct category. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 118 (+12 more)

Related

• Ethnic categories fail to capture the distinct experience of British Muslims. (similarity 0.96)
• Existing census ethnicity categories fail to capture Muslim experience as a distinct category. (similarity 0.96)
• Ethnic data categories cannot capture the Muslim penalty in British institutions (similarity 0.95)
• Lack of religious census categories hid Muslims within ethnic and birth-country data (similarity 0.90)
• British ‘ethnic minority’ communities are internally diverse and not segregated ghettos (similarity 0.87)
• Religious and ethnic disadvantages in Britain must be separated analytically to explain Muslim outcomes. (similarity 0.86)
• Muslim organizations won religion’s inclusion in the UK census. (similarity 0.86)
• British racial categories for Muslims changed labels while retaining racist content. (similarity 0.83)
• Religious identity grew more salient than ethnicity among later-generation British Muslims (similarity 0.81)
• Colonial census logic ethnicized Islam by equating ‘Islamic’ with ‘Malay’ (similarity 0.80)
• British Muslims were ethnicized before being recognized as a faith group (similarity 0.80)
• The ethnic makeup of Muslims varies widely by region in England. (similarity 0.80)
• Second-generation British Muslims replaced heritage labels with Islamic identity (similarity 0.79)
• Aggregate housing statistics mask sharp variation among different Muslim groups. (similarity 0.79)
• Scholars moved from ethnic to religious penalties to explain Muslim disadvantage (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Lack of religious census categories hid Muslims within ethnic and birth-country data #corroborates (0.90) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 186
• Religious identity grew more salient than ethnicity among later-generation British Muslims #expands (0.80) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 182
• British-born Muslims replaced ancestral ethnicity with religious identity #expands (0.78) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 51
• Second-generation British Muslims replaced heritage labels with Islamic identity #expands (0.78)
• The racialized content of the Muslim category persisted across changing labels #expands (0.75) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 163