Differentials in pension protection amongst ethnic minorities in Britain

According to the 2001 Census, individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups comprised about 10% of the total UK population, while the younger age structure of the BME population means that BME groups comprise less than 4% of the population aged 50 and over. Research has emphasised the health and socio-economic disadvantage experienced by BME groups, as well as the key policy challenge associated with the ageing of the BME population, and with their pension protection. More than half of Pakistani and Bangladeshi older people, half of Indian older people and about one-third of Black Caribbean older people, are in the bottom-fifth of the income distribution, while pensioners from these groups are more likely to rely on means-tested benefits. This paper analyses data from the first wave of Understanding Society, a UK-wide representative survey, in order to explore patterns of state pension receipt and the determinants of membership in an occupational pension scheme among older people aged 65 and over in five groups: Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Caribbean and African. The paper revisits existing research exploring the interaction of ethnicity and gender to the detriment of pension protection for both women and men from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.