Socio-spatial factors associated with ethnic inequalities in districts of England and Wales, 2001–2011

Kitty Lymperopoulou,Nissa Finney

doi:10.1177/0042098016653725

Kitty Lymperopoulou, Nissa Finney

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098016653725

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Abstract

This paper explores the changing geography of ethnic inequality in England and Wales drawing on data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses. Specifically, we use the 2011 Office for National Statistics (ONS) area classification to examine how ethnic inequalities within local areas with different demographic and socio-economic characteristics have changed over time. Local ethnic inequalities are examined through a set of indicators which capture differences in housing, health, employment and education between ethnic minority groups and the White British in local authority districts in England and Wales. The results suggest that ethnic inequalities are widespread and persistent, and highlight the different ways in which inequalities manifest for particular ethnic groups in different localities. Ethnic inequality in housing and employment is severe for most ethnic minority groups, particularly in large urban areas that have been traditional settlement areas for ethnic minorities. However, inequalities increased most over the decade 2001–2011 in rural and coastal areas that have low ethnic diversity levels and small ethnic minority populations. The paper considers these findings in relation to theories of service provision and racism, ethnic density, and immigrant adaptation.

Highlights

Spatial and ethnic inequalitiesIn recent years there has been considerable empirical and theoretical interest in the geographies of inequalities, with many documenting widening social as well as spatial inequalities (Dorling, 2015) and attention broadening from socio-economic measures to other concerns including quality of life (Higgins et al, 2014)
The analysis presented in this paper suggests a complex picture of ethnic inequalities across England and Wales
The census analysis has shown that inequalities in socioeconomic outcomes manifest in different ways for particular ethnic groups and are characterised by local variation: in some types of districts there is large ethnic inequality, while in others, ethnic minority groups have equal or better outcomes than the White British population

Summary

Introduction

Spatial and ethnic inequalitiesIn recent years there has been considerable empirical and theoretical interest in the geographies of inequalities, with many documenting widening social as well as spatial inequalities (Dorling, 2015) and attention broadening from socio-economic measures to other concerns including quality of life (Higgins et al, 2014). A large number of theories have been proposed to explain spatial inequalities, the spatiality of income inequality, of which Wei (2015) provides a comprehensive review. This flourishing scholarship is focused on the unevenness of characteristics of places or populations, the inequality between places. Van Kempen and Marcuse (1997) explain the increase of socio-spatial inequalities in relation to four major processes: the changing nature of economic activities; migration driven demographic change; xenophobia and racism; and the changing role of the state in the provision of welfare services. One of its dimensions relates to the spatial separateness of ethnic groups which has been associated with the persistence of socioeconomic inequalities between ethnic minority and majority groups (Massey, 2001)

Objectives

Conclusion