Citizenship Survey

2007-08 Citizenship SurveyRace, Religion and Equalities Topic Report

Acknowledgments

First and foremost our thanks go to all of the respondents who gave up their time to takepart in the survey.

We would also like to thank colleagues at NatCen who have made a significantcontribution to the project including: Audrey Hale, Laura Common and the Yellow Teamin the Operations Department, Steve Edwards in the computing department, SarahTipping in the Survey Methods Unit, Steven Finch, Sarah Kitchen; and especially the manyfieldwork interviewers who worked on this study.

Finally we would like to thank Reannan Rottier, Kate Millward, Farzana Bari, SuzanneCooper and their colleagues at Communities and Local Government.

Information on the Citizenship Survey and associated publications are available from:

Suzanne CooperCommunities and Local GovernmentZone 7/E8, Eland HouseBressenden PlaceLondonSW1E 5DU

Email: [email protected]

For statistical queries please contact:

Janet DoughartyCommunities and Local Government5th Floor, Eland HouseBressenden PlaceLondonSW1E 5DU

Email: [email protected]

2007-08 Citizenship Survey

Race, Religion and Equalities Topic Report

Chris Ferguson, Steven Finch and Ola Turczuk, NatCenDecember 2009

Department for Communities and Local Government

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Contents

Acknowledgments inside front cover

Contents 3

Executive summary 5

Chapter 1 Introduction 12

RACE

Chapter 2 Perceptions of racial discrimination bypublic service organisations 15

Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public service organisations 16

Perceptions of racial discrimination by at leastone of eight key public service organisations 22

Groups expected to be treated better 27

Chapter 3 Perceptions of racial prejudice 29

Group perceived to be experiencing moreracial prejudice 35

RELIGION

Chapter 4 Profile of religion 38

Profile of religious practice 39

Whether people feel able to actively practisetheir religion 41

Chapter 5 Religious prejudice 43

Perceptions of the level of religious prejudicein Britain today 43

Perceptions of changes in the amount of religiousprejudice in Britain over the last five years 46

Groups experiencing more religious prejudice 50

Chapter 6 Perceptions of the extent to which the Governmentprotects the rights of different religious groups 52

Religious groups whose rights are perceived to beprotected too much and too little 56

Chapter 7 Religious discrimination 59

Organisations perceived to be discriminatory onthe basis of religion 62

Chapter 8 How religion affects day-to-day life 64

Chapter 9 Racial and religious harassment and fear of attack 69

Perceptions of racial or religious harassmentin the local area 69

Fear of being attacked due to ethnicity or religion 75

EQUALITIES

Chapter 10 Experiences of discrimination in the labour market 79

Reasons for being refused a job and for beingdiscriminated against regarding promotion 79

Chapter 11 Formal volunteering and civic engagement acrossequalities groups 84

Chapter 12 Respect 87

Annex A Methodology 90

Annex B Multivariate Outputs 93

Annex C Definitions and Terms 114

Annex D Public Service Agreements (PSAs) andDepartmental Strategic Objectives (DSOs) 118

Annex E Tables 120

Executive summary | 5

Executive summary

This summary presents findings from the 2007-08 Citizenship Survey. This is the fourth ina series of surveys carried out previously in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

The Citizenship Survey is designed to contribute to the evidence base across a range ofimportant policy areas including cohesion, community empowerment, race equality,volunteering and charitable giving. The Survey contains questions about a number oftopics which include: views about the local area; fear of crime; local services;volunteering and charitable giving; civil renewal; racial and religious prejudice anddiscrimination; identity and values; and interactions with people from differentbackgrounds. It also collects socio-demographic data on respondents.

The Survey is based on a nationally representative sample of approximately 10,000 adultsin England and Wales with an additional sample of around 5,000 adults from ethnicminority groups. Face-to-face fieldwork was carried out with respondents from April 2007to March 2008 by interviewers from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).

This summary reports findings on race, religion and equalities. Other published reports,available on the CLG website, cover Volunteering and Charitable Giving, CommunityCohesion, Identity and Values and Empowered Communities.

Communities and Local Government has overarching responsibility for race equality forGovernment, working with other departments, public bodies and third sector partners totackle inequalities experienced by many ethnic minority groups. Communities and LocalGovernments vision is of a fair society where there are no barriers to participation orambition based on race, colour or ethnicity and where talent and effort decide how wellyou do.

Communities and Local Government also work to improve expectations of fairness in thedelivery of public services and in employment amongst all ethnic groups as well as raisinglevels of representation and participation in public life in under-represented groups.

Communities and Local Government lead on engagement between government and theUKs faith communities, with responsibility for ensuring that faith communities andrepresentative organisations for people of goodwill without a religious belief are properlyconsulted on religion and belief equalities issues, and on the development andimplementation of other policy areas that affect them.

A thriving inter faith scene, in which people from different religious backgrounds cometogether to build understanding or tackle shared problems, is an important driver ofimproved community cohesion locally. Communities and Local Government is thereforeresponsible for fostering inter faith dialogue and activity locally, regionally and nationallythough a programme of targeted funding and facilitation as set out in the 2008 InterFaith Framework, Face to Face and Side by Side.

6 | 2007-08 Citizenship Survey Race, Religion and Equalities Topic Report

The Government Equalities Office has responsibility within government for equalitystrategy and legislation and takes the lead on issues relating to women, sexualorientation and transgender equality matters. The Government Equalities Office aims toimprove equality and reduce discrimination and disadvantage for all, at work, in publicand political life, and in peoples life chances.

The Government Equalities Offices commitment to equality is based on the belief thatequality is good for:

The individual: no-one should be discriminated against on the grounds of gender,race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, or being transsexual.

Our society: a more equal and fairer society is one from which we all benefit.

Our economy: a modern successful knowledge based economy needs to make themost of all our talents.

The summary begins by highlighting overall key findings on race, religion and equalities.It goes on to examine perceptions of racial discrimination and racial prejudice. Thesecond section looks at religion; in particular perceptions of religious prejudice and viewson how much the Government is doing to protect the rights of people belonging todifferent religions. It goes on to present findings on perceptions of religiousdiscrimination and views on how religion is perceived to affect aspects of day-to-day life.The next section looks at perceptions of racial or religious harassment and fear of attack.The summary closes by presenting findings on labour market discrimination, equalopportunities in formal volunteering and engagement in civic institutions, andperceptions of the respect with which people are treated.


Key findings In 2007-08, the proportion of people who expected to be treated better than otherraces by at least one of eight key public service organisations1 fell from 33 per cent in2005 to 28 per cent.

The proportion of people who expected to be treated worse than other races by atleast one of eight key public service organisations also increased slightly, from 28 percent in 2005 to 30 per cent in 2007-08.

In 2007-08, there was an increase in the proportion of people who thought that therewas more racial prejudice in Britain today than there had been five years ago, from 48per cent in 2005 to 56 per cent.

There was also an increase in the proportion of people who thought that there wasmore religious prejudice in Britain today than there was five years ago, from 52 percent in 2005 to 62 per cent in 2007-08.

The proportion of people who thought that there was a lot of religious prejudice inBritain today increased from 24 per cent in 2005 to 31 per cent in 2007-08.

In 2007-08, 94 per cent of people who practised a religion felt they could practisetheir religion freely in Britain.

Across all religions, the majority of people did not feel that their religion affectedwhere they live (17% of people with a religion said that their religion did affect this),where they work (10%), who their friends are (14%) or the school they would sendtheir children to (32%).

1 These are: local schools, local doctors surgery, council housing department or housing association, the police, the Prison Service, thecourts, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service.


Race

In 2007-08, Black Caribbean (55%), Black African (39%), Pakistani (36%) and MixedRace (38%) people were more likely than White (29%) people to say that at least oneof the eight key public service organisations would treat them worse than other races.

The proportion of Asian people who expected to be treated worse than other races byat least one of eight key public service organisations fell from 34 per cent in 2005 to29 per cent in 2007-08.

The organisations people most commonly expected discriminatory treatment from both positive and negative were a council housing department or a housingassociation (29%), the immigration authorities (28%), a private landlord (27%) andthe police (25%). White people were more likely than people of other ethnic groups tosay that they would expect to be treated worse than other races by a council housingdepartment or housing association, with 25 per cent of White people thinking this.

Fifty-six per cent of people thought that there was more racial prejudice in Britaintoday than there had been five years ago while 11 per cent thought that there wasless. The proportion of people who thought there was more racial prejudice in Britaintoday increased from 2005 when 48 per cent of people thought this.

White people were much more likely than any other ethnic group to have said thatthere is more racial prejudice in Britain today than there was five years ago, with 58per cent of White people saying this.

Compared with 2005, there was an increase in the proportion of White people whothought that there was more racial prejudice than five years ago (from 50% to 58%),and a decrease in the number of people in the Chinese/other group who answered inthis way (from 32% to 25%). There was no statistically significant change in theproportion of Asian, Black, or Mixed Race people who said that there is more racialprejudice today than five years ago.

The groups most commonly perceived to be experiencing more racial prejudice todaythan they had five years ago were Muslims (44%), Asians (39%) and EasternEuropeans (29%).


Religion

Seventy-six per cent of Muslims said they actively practised their religion, as did 70 percent of both Hindus and Sikhs, and 31 per cent of Christians.

Thirty-one per cent of people thought that there was a lot of religious prejudice inBritain today and 39 per cent that there was a fair amount.

Muslim (35%) people and people in the other religion category (41%) were morelikely than Christians (30%) to perceive a lot of religious prejudice in Britain today.

Christians (63%) were more likely than Sikhs (49%), Buddhists (47%) or Hindus (44%)to think that the amount of religious prejudice in Britain had increased in the last fiveyears, while Muslims (59%) answered this way in similar proportions to Christians.

Eighty-nine per cent of those who thought that there was more religious prejudicetoday relative to five years ago said that this was associated with Muslims.

Thirty-five per cent of people felt that the Government was doing about the rightamount to protect the rights of people belonging to different religions while 26 percent thought they were doing too much and 30 per cent too little.

Muslims (46%) were more likely than Christians (29%) to say that the Governmentwas doing too little to protect the rights of people belonging to different religions.

Eighty-four per cent of people who said that the Government was doing too muchto protect the rights of people belonging to different religions related this to Muslims,as did 60 per cent of those who said the Government was doing too little.

Three per cent of people said that they had been discriminated against because oftheir religion by one or more of the organisations on the list presented to them. Thisrepresents a small increase since 2005 (2%).

Seventeen per cent of people said that their religion affects where they live, whileten per cent said it affects where they work, 14 per cent said that this affects whotheir friends are and 32 per cent said it affects what school they would send theirchildren to.

Christians (33%) were more likely than Muslims (26%), Hindus (14%), Sikhs (10%),and Buddhists (7%) to say that their religion affected what school they send (or sentor would send) their children to.

Muslims were more likely than Christians to say that their religion affected where theylive (40% compared with 15%), where they work (25% compared with 9%) and whotheir friends are (30% compared with 13%).


Racial and religious harassment and fear of attack

Sixty-one per cent of people in England said that racial or religious harassment is not aproblem at all in their local area, 30 per cent said that it is not a very big problem, sixper cent state said that it is a fairly big problem and two per cent said that it is a verybig problem.

White people were less likely than people from all other ethnic groups (except forChinese people) to say that racial and religious harassment was a fairly or very bigproblem in the local area. Proportions were highest among Mixed Race (25%) andBangladeshi (24%) people, compared with seven per cent of White people.

Sixteen per cent of people living in London thought that racial or religious harassmentwas a problem in their local area, a higher proportion than in all other regions.

Ten per cent of ethnic minority people said that they were very worried about beingattacked because of their skin colour, ethnic origin or religion.

Fifteen per cent of Bangladeshi people and 11 per cent of Black African people saidthat they were very worried about being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnicorigin or religion.


Equalities

In 2007-08, seven per cent of people who had been refused a job in the last five yearsthought that this was because of race; unchanged from 2005. Sixteen per cent ofpeople who had been discriminated against regarding promotion thought that thiswas because of race, an increase from 2005 when this figure was 12 per cent.

Age was the most common form of discrimination mentioned in relation to beingrefused a job (mentioned as a reason by 23% of those who said they had beenrefused a job in the last five years) and promotion (mentioned by 29% of those whosaid they had been discriminated against in relation to a promotion).

Among people from ethnic minority groups, race and colour were mentioned inrelation to being refused a job by 20 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, and inrelation to being discriminated against regarding promotion by 49 per cent and 45 percent respectively.

White people were more likely to have participated in civic engagement or formalvolunteering in the last 12 months than people from all other ethnic groups, exceptfor Mixed Race people for whom proportions were similar to those of White people.Sixty-four per cent of White people and 61 per cent of Mixed Race had participated incivic engagement or formal volunteering, compared with 60 per cent of BlackCaribbean people, 57 per cent of Black African people, 52 per cent of Pakistanipeople, 50 per cent of Indian people and 47 per cent of Bangladeshi people andChinese people.

Sixty-four per cent of Christians had taken part in civic engagement or formalvolunteering in the last 12 months. This was higher than the proportions of Muslims(51%), Hindus (50%) and Sikhs (41%) who had done so. The proportion of Christianswho had taken part in these activities was similar to the proportions of Buddhists(63%), people with other religions (67%) and people with no religion (64%).

The proportion of White people who said that they would be treated with respect allof the time while shopping (28%) was lower than the proportion of people from mostother ethnic groups who answered in this way. However, the proportions of Whitepeople who said that they would be treated with respect all of the time when usingpublic transport (26%), when using the health service (44%) or at work, school, orcollege (44%) were similar to the proportions of people from most other ethnicgroups who gave these answers.


Chapter 1Introduction

1.1 This report presents findings from the 2007-08 Citizenship Survey. This is thefourth in a series of surveys carried out previously in 2001, 2003 and 2005.In 2007 the Citizenship Survey moved to a continuous design with key indicatorsmade available every quarter (by way of a statistical release), and in March 2008was given National Statistics status.

1.2 The Citizenship Survey is designed to contribute to the evidence base across arange of important policy areas including cohesion, community empowerment,race equality, volunteering and charitable giving. Evidence from the Survey isalso used both by Communities and Local Government and other governmentdepartments to monitor progress against a range of Public Service Agreement(PSA) and Departmental Strategic Objective (DSO) indicators2. A full list ofCommunities and Local Governments indicators can be found at Annex D.The survey also provides a wealth of information for wider social research andanalysis. The anonymised dataset is publicly available from the ESRC data archive:www.data-archive.ac.uk/.

1.3 The Survey contains questions about a number of topics which include: viewsabout the local area; fear of crime; local services; volunteering and charitablegiving; civil renewal; racial and religious prejudice and discrimination; identity andvalues; and interactions with people from different backgrounds. It also collectssocio-demographic data on respondents.

1.4 The Survey is based on a nationally representative sample of approximately10,000 adults in England and Wales with an additional sample of around 5,000adults from ethnic minority groups. Face-to-face fieldwork was carried out withrespondents from April 2007 to March 2008 by interviewers from the NationalCentre for Social Research (NatCen).

2 Public Service Agreements (PSAs) set out the key priority outcomes the Government wants to achieve in the next spending period.Departmental Strategic Objectives (DSOs) set out the departments objectives for the contributions they will make both to the PSAsthey lead on, and those that they contribute to.

Chapter 1 Introduction | 13

1.5 Five reports have been produced which set out the 2007-08 Survey findings.

1.6 The five reports are:

Race, Religion and Equalitiesthis, the current report, explores views about racial and religious prejudice,perceptions of racial discrimination by public service organisations, andexperiences of religious and employment-related discrimination.

Volunteering and Charitable Givinglooks at peoples involvement in volunteering activities and charitable giving.

Community Cohesionexamines community cohesion, attitudes towards the neighbourhood and thelocal area, belonging to the neighbourhood, fear of crime, social networks, andpeoples interactions with people from different backgrounds.

Identity and Valuesexamines attitudes to immigration, values, identity and sense of belonging toBritain.

Empowered Communitieslooks at the extent to which people actually participate in and influence localor national conditions and decisions and the extent to which they feel able toinfluence decision making.

1.7 Each report begins with text and charts describing the findings, with thesupporting data given in tables at the end. Key elements of the surveymethodology are highlighted in Annex A (there is also a separate technical reportgiving details of the methodology in full).

1.8 The current report focuses on the topic of race, religion and equalities, and in sodoing, facilitates the measurement of PSAs 153 and 214, and DSO 45.

1.9 The report begins by examining peoples expectations of how they would betreated, compared to people of other races by various public service organisations6

and which groups were identified as being treated better. This is followed by anexamination of how people perceive the level of racial prejudice today comparedwith five years ago and, where people thought that this had increased whichgroups in particular they perceived there to be more prejudice against than before.

3 PSA 15: To address the disadvantage that individuals experience because of their gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation,religion or belief.

4 PSA 21: To build more cohesive, empowered and active communities.5 Communities and Local Government DSO 4: To develop communities that are cohesive, active and resilient to extremism.6 These are: local schools, local doctors surgery, council housing department or housing association, the police, the Prison Service, thecourts, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service.


1.10 The second section of the report looks at issues to do with religion. It examinespeoples views on the level of religious prejudice in Britain today, their perceptionsof changes in the amount of religious prejudice in Britain over the last five years,and, where people thought that this has increased, which groups they perceivedthere to be more religious prejudice against than before. It then looks at peoplesperceptions of the level of protection the Government gives to the rights of peoplebelonging to different religions, and, where people answered that the rights ofreligious groups were protected too much, which groups in particular they werethinking of. This is followed by sections on peoples perceived experiences ofreligious discrimination by various public service organisations, on whether peoplewho practise a religion feel free to do so in Britain, and on the extent to whichreligion affects certain aspects of peoples day-to-day life.

1.11 The final sections of the report examine peoples perceptions of racial and religiousharassment and how worried they were about being the victim of a physical attackbecause of their skin colour, ethnic origin or religion. It examines peoplesexperiences of and perceived reasons for discrimination in the labour market.It reports the level to which people from different groups are involved in formalvolunteering and engagement in civic institutions. Finally, it examines the level ofrespect that people feel they are treated with in different public places or whileusing public services.

1.12 The report mostly covers England and Wales to reflect Communities and LocalGovernments policy responsibilities in this area. However, some of the datapresented relates to England only to facilitate the measurement of policyoutcomes on some issues. Section 11, which examines volunteering and civicengagement across equalities groups, and Section 12, on respect cover Englandonly in order to reflect Government Equalities Office policy responsibilities in thisarea. Meanwhile, Section 9, on racial and religious harassment and fear of attack,initially presents figures for England only, but then goes on to present data forboth England and Wales.

Chapter 2 Perceptions of racial discrimination by pubic service organisations | 15

RACE

Chapter 2Perceptions of racial discrimination bypublic service organisations

2.1 This section explores perceptions of racial discrimination by public serviceorganisations using Citizenship Survey questions which ask people whether, as amember of the public using a range of services, they would expect to be treatedbetter, worse or about the same as people of other races. Respondents were toldthat they did not need to have any direct contact with the organisations to answerthe questions. The list of 15 organisations was as follows:

a local doctors surgery

a local hospital

the health service

a local school

the education system

a council housing department or housing association

a local council

a private landlord

the courts

the Crown Prosecution Service

the police

your local police

the immigration authorities

the Prison Service

the Probation Service.


2.2 This section presents detailed analysis of responses to this question. It beginsby examining which public service organisations were most frequently perceivedto be discriminatory. It then investigates the differences in these perceptionsaccording to ethnic group, gender, age and country of birth. The section ends bylooking at the proportion of people who perceived that they would be treatedworse by at least one of eight key public service organisations7 and which othergroups they thought would be treated better than them.

Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public serviceorganisations

2.3 Analysis of all the public service organisations listed shows that the most commonview was that each of the organisations would treat them the same as people ofother racial backgrounds. However, as observed in previous years, the proportionof people who expected to be treated better or worse varied quite a lot by thetype of organisation (Table 1; Figure 1). The four types of organisations that werefelt to be most likely to discriminate (either positively or negatively) were:

A council housing department or housing association: 29 per cent ofpeople expected some form of discrimination and most (23% of people)expected that they would be treated worse than people of other races.

Immigration authorities: 28 per cent of people expected some form ofdiscrimination, and of these, most (19% of people) expected to be treatedbetter than people of other races.

Private landlords: 27 per cent of people expected some form of discrimination,and of these, most (23% of people) expected to be treated better than peopleof other races.

The police: 25 per cent of people expected some form of discrimination,and of these, most (17% of people) expected to be treated better than peopleof other races.

2.4 In 2005, the same four organisations were perceived as being the mostdiscriminatory from the list provided. However, in 2007-08, for three of theseorganisations, fewer people than in 2005 expected some form of discrimination.The proportion of people who expected this for immigration authorities fell from31 per cent in 2005 to 28 per cent in this year, the proportion who felt this forprivate landlords fell from 31 per cent to 27 per cent and the proportion who feltthis for the police fell from 29 per cent to 25 per cent.

2.5 Other criminal justice organisations such as local police, the courts, the CrownProsecution Service, the Prison Service and the Probation Service were mentioned asdiscriminatory by between 11 and 17 per cent of people. Twelve per cent of peoplethought the education system would treat them better or worse than people ofother races.

7 The eight key public service organisations were: local schools, a local doctors surgery, a council housing department or housingassociation, the police, the Prison Service, the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service.


2.6 Health service organisations, such as a local doctors surgery, a local hospitaland the health service in general, were perceived to be least discriminatory:the proportion of people saying that they would be treated better or worse bythese is between four and six per cent.

2.7 The types of organisations that people said would be most likely to give thembetter treatment than people of other races were a private landlord (23% ofpeople said this), the immigration authorities (19%) and the police (17%). At theother end of this spectrum, 23 per cent of people said that a housing departmentor housing association would treat them worse than people of other races,11 per cent of people said this about a local council, and nine per cent aboutthe immigration authorities (Figure 1).

The courts

The police

The immigration authorities

A local council(apart from a housing department)

A council housing department orhousing association

The Prison Service

A private landlord

Your local police

The Crown Prosecution Service

The education system

A local school

The health service

The Probation Service

A local hospital

A local doctors surgery

0 10 20 30 40 50

2 2

3 2

3 8

3 3

4 4

4 14

4 23

6 11

6 6

6

6

7

7

8 17

9 19

11 4

23 6

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales (9,336)

Expect worse treatment than other races Expect better treatment than other races

Figure 1 Proportion of people who expect to be treated better or worse than other races by public service organisations


2.8 Most of the 2007-08 findings in relation to peoples perceptions of being treatedworse than people of other races by public service organisations were very similarto those recorded in 2005. There was no statistically significant change in theproportion of people saying that they would be treated worse by any of thecriminal justice organisations8, a private landlord, and the immigration authorities.There was an increase of between half and three percentage points for all otherorganisations, including a three percentage point increase in the proportionexpecting to be treated worse by a housing department or housing association(from 20% in 2005 to 23% in 2007-08) and a two percentage point increase in theproportion answering in this way for a local council (from 9% to 11%) (Figure 2).

The courts

The police

The immigration authorities

A local council(apart from a housing department)

A council housing department orhousing association

The Prison Service

A private landlord

Your local police

The Crown Prosecution Service

The education system

A local school

The health service

The Probation Service

A local hospital

A local doctors surgery

0 10 20 30 40 50

122

333333

44444

56

566666

88

911

109

2023

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales (2005: 9,670, 2007-08: 9,336)

2005 2007-08

Figure 2 Proportion of people who expect to be treated worse than other races by public service organisations, 2005 and 2007-08

8 These are: the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service, the police, the local police, the Prison Service, and the Probation Service.


Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public serviceorganisations, by ethnicity

2.9 Twenty-nine per cent of people said that they would be treated either better orworse than people of other races by a council housing department or housingassociation. White (25%) people were more likely than people from ethnicminority groups (11%) to say that they would expect to be treated worse thanother races by this type of organisation (Table 1).

2.10 Another public service judged by some to treat people worse than other races wasthe local council. Indian (6%), Pakistani (6%), Bangladeshi (7%), and Mixed Race(7%) people were less likely than White (11%) people to expect to be treatedworse than people of other races by this type of organisation.

2.11 White people were less likely than people from ethnic minority groups to think thatthe immigration authorities would treat them worse than other races. The highestlevels were amongst Black Caribbean and Black African people, 27 and 22 per centof who thought this compared with eight per cent of White people. In contrast,a high proportion of White people expected the immigration authorities to treatthem better than other races. For example, one per cent of Black Caribbeanpeople, three per cent of Black African people and two per cent of both Indian andPakistani people answered in this way, compared with 22 per cent of White people.

2.12 A similar pattern was observed with the police. Groups that were most likely tothink the police would treat them worse than other races were Black Caribbean(41%), Black African (29%), Pakistani (25%) and Bangladeshi (24%) people.Six per cent of White people thought this.

2.13 Black Caribbean people in particular were more likely than White people to say thatcriminal justice organisations such as the local police (33% compared with 4%), thecourts (27% compared with 6%), the Crown Prosecution Service (25% comparedwith 5%), the Prison Service (26% compared with 2%) and the Probation Service(21% compared with 2%) would treat them worse than other groups.

2.14 On the other hand, a considerably higher proportion of White people, comparedwith any other ethnic group, thought that the criminal justice organisations wouldtreat them better than people from other races. For example, 19 per cent of Whitepeople mentioned the police, 13 per cent the local police, 15 per cent the PrisonService and nine per cent the Probation Service as an organisation that would treatthem better than other races, compared with two per cent of people from ethnicminority groups who answered this way for the police and local police, and oneper cent of people from this group who mentioned the Prison Service and theProbation Service.

2.15 A higher proportion of White people perceived that they would be treated betterby a private landlord compared with all other ethnic groups (25% compared with7% or fewer among other ethnic groups).


Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public serviceorganisations, by sex

2.16 Expectations of treatment by public services tended not to vary by sex, althoughsome differences were found. Men were more likely than women to say that theywould be treated worse than people of other races by all of the criminal justiceorganisations except for the probation service, the education system, a councilhousing department or housing association, and the immigration authorities,although the differences were not more than three percentage points for anyorganisation. There was no statistically significant difference between theproportions of the two sexes answering in this way for any of the other sevenpublic service organisations (Table 2). There were, however, some larger variationsby sex within particular ethnic groups.

2.17 There were relatively large differences between the sexes in the proportions ofpeople in some ethnic minority groups who expected that they would be treatedworse than other races by the police. For example, 48 per cent of Black Caribbeanmen said this compared to 35 per cent of Black Caribbean women while 32 per centof Black African men said this compared to 26 per cent of Black African women.Similarly, 29 per cent of Pakistani men and 28 per cent of Bangladeshi men said thiscompared to 20 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women. Among Mixed Racepeople, 32 per cent of men said this compared to 21 per cent of women.

2.18 These patterns were also reflected in perceptions of treatment by the local police.For example, among Black Caribbean people, 41 per cent of men expected to betreated worse by the local police compared to 26 per cent of women. Meanwhile,25 per cent of Pakistani men said this compared to 15 per cent of Pakistaniwomen.

2.19 However, among some ethnic groups, women were more likely than men toexpect to be treated worse than people of other races by the health service, a localschool and a council housing department or housing association. The proportionof women who thought that they would be treated worse by the health servicewas higher than that for men for Bangladeshi people (8% compared with 5%)and Chinese people (6% compared with 3%). For local schools and a housingdepartment or housing association, there were differences between the sexesin the expectations of Bangladeshi and Mixed Race people. Six per cent ofBangladeshi women and seven per cent of Mixed Race women thought that theywould be treated worse than other races by a local school (compared to 1% ofmen from both ethnic groups), while 18 per cent of Bangladeshi women and17 per cent of Mixed Race women answered in this way for a council housingdepartment or housing association compared to 10 per cent of Bangladeshi menand 11 per cent of Mixed Race men.


Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public serviceorganisations, by age

2.20 For five of the public service organisations mentioned (the police, local police,the prison service, a local school and a council housing department or housingassociation), younger people (aged 16-29) were more likely to expect worsetreatment than people aged 50 and over. For the remaining organisations,no statistically significant difference was found between these age groups.

2.21 There were also variations between ethnic groups. For example, Black Caribbeanpeople aged 16-29 (65%) were more likely than Black Caribbean people aged30-49 (44%) and those aged 50 (19%) and over to expect to be treated worseby the police. Similarly, Black African people aged 16-29 (43%) were more likelyto say this than those who were aged 50 and over (28%). The same pattern wasobserved between the younger and older age groups for Bangladeshi people(31% of those aged 16-29 compared to 18% of those aged 50 and over expectedto be treated worse by the police) and Indian people (18% of those aged 16-29compared to 11% of those aged 50 and over). However, among Pakistani peoplethere was no statistically significant difference according to age in expectations ofbeing treated worse by the police (27% for those aged 16-29 years and 28% ofthose aged 50 and over said this).

2.22 The proportion of White people who expected to receive worse treatment fromthe police than other races was both much lower than for ethnic minority groups(6% compared to 22%) and more consistent across the different age groups.

Perceptions of racial discrimination by all public serviceorganisations, by country of birth

2.23 People who were born in the UK were more likely than those not born in the UKto think that they would be treated worse than other races by a council housingdepartment or housing association (25% compared with 12%). This group werealso more likely to think that they would be treated worse by a local council (11%compared with 6%). In contrast, people who were not born in the UK were morelikely than those born in the UK to think that they would be treated worse thanother races by the police (9% compared with 7%), the local police (7% comparedwith 5%) and the Prison Service (5% compared with 3%). Aside from thesefindings, there were few differences in perceptions of racial discriminationaccording to peoples country of birth for the total population.


2.24 Among ethnic groups. Black people who were born in the UK were more likelythan Black people not born in the UK to think that they would be treated worsethan other races by most of the organisations. In particular, 55 per cent of Blackpeople born in the UK expected to be treated worse by the police compared to25 per cent of Black people not born in the UK. Similar differences were observedin expectations of being treated worse by other criminal justice organisations suchas the local police (43% compared with 19%), the courts (38% compared with11%), the Crown Prosecution Service (35% compared with 12%) and the PrisonService (37% compared with 15%).

2.25 Similar patterns of results were observed for Asian people with respect to thecriminal justice organisations. For example, Asian people who were born in the UKwere more likely than Asian people not born in the UK to think that they wouldbe treated worse by the police (30% compared with 13%), local police (23%compared with 10%), the courts (13% compared with 4%), the Crown ProsecutionService (14% compared with 4%) and the Prison Service (22% compared with 7%).

2.26 Black people born in the UK were also more likely than Black people born outsidethe UK to think that the education system (29% compared with 12%) and a localschool (14% compared with 6%) would treat them worse than other races.Although Asian people born in the UK were similarly more likely than those notborn in the UK to think that they would be treated worse by these organisations,the differences were much less (7% compared to 4% for the education systemand 6% compared to 4% for schools).

2.27 Black and Asian people who were born in the UK were also more likely than thoseborn outside the UK to think that they would be treated worse by the immigrationauthorities (36% of Black people born in the UK compared to 19% of those notborn in the UK; 22% of Asian people born in the UK compared to 11% of thosenot born in the UK).

Perceptions of racial discrimination by at least one of eightkey public service organisations

2.28 The remainder of this section examines expectations of treatment by eight keypublic service organisations. These are: local schools, a local doctors surgery,a council housing department or housing association and the five criminal justiceorganisations the police, the Prison Service, the courts, the Crown ProsecutionService and the Probation Service.

2.29 The proportion of people who expected to be treated better than people of otherraces by at least one of these organisations fell from 33 per cent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2007-08. Meanwhile, the proportion who expected to be treated worsethan other races increased from 28 per cent in 2005 to 30 per cent in 2007-08.


2.30 Comparing these figures with those for previous years, the proportion of peoplewho expected to be treated worse than people of other races by at least one ofthese organisations was 27 per cent in 2001 and 23 per cent in 2003. Theproportion of people who expected to be treated better by one of eight key publicservice organisations was 27 per cent in 2001 and 38 per cent in 2003 (Figure 3,Table 1).

Perceptions of racial discrimination by at least one of eight keypublic service organisations, by ethnicity

2.31 Black Caribbean (55%), Black African (39%), Pakistani (36%) and Mixed Race(38%) people were more likely than White (29%) people to say that at least oneof the eight key public service organisations would treat them worse than otherraces. (Figure 4, Table 1).

2.32 The proportion of White people who said that they expected to be treated betterthan other races by at least one of the eight key public service organisations wassimilar to the proportion who expected to be treated worse by any organisation(30% and 29% respectively). In contrast, all ethnic minority groups were less likelyto say that they would be treated better by any of these organisations than to saythat they would be treated worse by any of them.

0

20

40

60

80

100

2007-08200520032001

27 2723

38

2833

30 28

Per

cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales (2001: 10,015, 2003: 9,486, 2005: 9,691, 2007-08: 9,336)

Treated worse Treated better

Figure 3 Proportion of people who expect to be treated better or worse than other races by at least one of eight key public service organisations, 2001 to 2007-08


2.33 Relative to 2005, 2007-08 findings show a few small changes in perceptions ofdiscrimination by any of the eight key public service organisations by people ofdifferent ethnic groups. The proportion of White people who said that they wouldexpect to be treated worse than other races has increased from 26 per cent to29 per cent. In contrast, the proportion of Asian people who expected to betreated worse than other races has decreased from 34 per cent in 2005 to29 per cent in 2007-08. The proportion of Black people who expected to betreated worse has remained the same, at 46 per cent (Figure 5).

All

Chinese

Indian

All ethnic minority groups

White

Bangladeshi

Pakistani

Mixed Race

Black African

Black Caribbean

0 20 40 60 80 100

455

639

1038

536

935

3029

826

625

634

2830

Per cent

Base: Combined sample, England & Wales (14,095); Core sample, England & Wales (9,336)

Expect better treatment by at least one organisation

Expect worse treatment by at least one organisation

Figure 4 Proportion of people who expect to be treated better or worse than other races by at least one of eight key public service organisations, by ethnicity


Characteristics of people who feel that they would be treatedworse than other races by at least one of eight key public serviceorganisations

2.34 A multivariate analysis was carried out to look at the socio-demographic andattitudinal factors that predict perceptions of racial discrimination by public serviceorganisations when the impacts of other variables (eg age, sex, deprivation andethnicity) are taken into account. Further methodological detail of this analysis isprovided at Annex B.

2.35 This analysis found that people from the following groups, and with the followingcharacteristics, were more likely to feel that they would be treated worse by atleast one of eight key public service organisations:

men (compared to women)

people aged 16-24 years (compared to people aged 75 years and over)

Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Black African, Other Black and MixedRace people (compared to White people)

people born in the UK (compared to those not born in the UK)

All


All

Chinese

White

Other

Asian

Mixed Race

Black

0 20 40 60 80 100

4646

3841

2934

2633

292626

20

3437

3028

Per cent

Base: Combined sample, England & Wales (2005:14,081; 2007-08:14,095); Core sample, England & Wales (2005: 9,670; 2007-08: 9,336)

2007-08 2005

Figure 5 Proportion of people who expect to be treated worse than other races by at least one of eight key public service organisations, by ethnicity, 2005 and 2007-08


non-practising Christians, practising and non-practising Buddhists (compared topractising Christians)

people with a limiting long-term illness or disability (compared to those withouta limiting long-term illness or disability)

people with qualifications below degree level that are not foreign qualifications(compared to those with a degree)

people with no qualifications and people over the age of 70 with noqualifications (compared to those with a degree)

people who were in employment (compared to those who were economicallyinactive)

people living in the East of England (compared to people in the North East)

people who did not think that their local area was cohesive (compared topeople who thought their local area was cohesive)

people who were fairly, not very or not at all proud of their local area(compared to people who were very proud)

people who use the internet (compared to those who do not)

people who regularly read national newspapers (compared to those who do not).

2.36 Those from the following groups, and with the following characteristics, were lesslikely to feel that they would be treated worse by at least one of eight key publicservice organisations. People:

living in England in areas of medium deprivation (the fifth decile) (compared topeople living in England in the least deprived areas)

living in areas with the highest ethnic density and people living in low tomedium density areas (wards in the third and fourth deciles) (compared topeople living in areas with the lowest ethnic density)

with more than half of their friends from a different ethnic group (compared topeople who say all their friends are from the same group)

who perceived there to be low levels of anti-social behaviour in their local areaor did not respond to this question (compared to those who perceived highlevels of anti-social behaviour)

who are not very or not at all worried about crime (compared to people whowere very worried).

2.37 The model also tested a number of other variables, which were found to have noimpact (either positive or negative) on peoples views on the amount of racialprejudice. These variables are listed in Annex B.


Groups expected to be treated better

2.38 People who stated that they would expect any of the public service organisationsto treat them worse than other races (30% of people said this) were asked whichgroups they thought would be treated better than them. This question was askedunprompted, without a list of potential groups to avoid leading peoplesresponses.

2.39 Overall, the group that people most commonly identified as receiving bettertreatment than them was Asian people (identified by 42% of people). Twenty-sixper cent of people identified Black people, while 24 per cent identified EasternEuropeans, 23 per cent identified new immigrants, 16 per cent identified asylumseekers or refugees, 15 per cent identified Muslims and 13 per cent identifiedWhite people. Chinese people and Mixed Race people (each mentioned by 5% ofpeople), Hindus and Sikhs (each mentioned by 3% of people) and Buddhists andJews (each mentioned by 2% of people) were mentioned by fewer people in thiscontext (Figure 6).

Jews

Asian people

Black people

Eastern Europeans

New immigrants

Asylum seekers/refugees

Muslims

Other group

White people

Mixed Race people

Chinese people

Hindus

Sikhs

Buddhists

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

42

26

24

23

16

15

14

13

5

5

3

3

2

2

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales, People who said that they would expect to be treated worse than other races by at least one public service organisation (3,019)

Figure 6 Groups perceived to be treated better than respondent


Groups expected to be treated better, by ethnicity

2.40 Most people from ethnic minority groups who expected public serviceorganisations to treat them worse than other races identified White people asthe group that would be treated better than them (82% of people from ethnicminority groups said this). Eighty-four per cent of Asian people, 87 per cent ofBlack people, 78 per cent of Mixed Race people and 64 per cent of people in theChinese or other ethnic groups identified White people in this way (Table 3).

2.41 After White people, Asian people were most commonly identified by peoplefrom ethnic minority groups as people who would receive better treatment(being identified in this way by 10% of people from all ethnic minority groups).This ethnic group was mentioned by 46 per cent of White people who expectedto receive worse treatment and by between 14 and 15 per cent of other ethnicminority groups.

2.42 Twenty-nine per cent of White people who expected to receive worse treatmentthan other races identified Black people as people who would receive bettertreatment. Among people of other ethnic minority groups who expected toreceive worse treatment, Black people were mentioned by between six and10 per cent.

2.43 White people who expected to receive worse treatment than other races alsocommonly identified new immigrants and Eastern Europeans as groups thatwere likely to receive better treatment than them (both were mentioned by 26%).In contrast, among people in ethnic minority groups who expected to be treatedworse than other races, four per cent identified new immigrants as a group thatwould be treated better, while seven per cent identified Eastern Europeans.

2.44 People aged 16-29 years who felt that they would be treated worse than otherraces by public service organisations were less likely than those aged 30-49 or 50and over to identify Muslims and Eastern Europeans as the group that would betreated better (11% compared with 15% and 17% respectively for Muslims and18% compared to 27% and 24% respectively for Eastern Europeans). Aside fromthis finding, there were few variations to be noted by age or sex in peoplesperceptions of who might be treated better than them (Tables 4 and 5).

Chapter 3 Perceptions of racial prejudice | 29

RACE

Chapter 3Perceptions of racial prejudice

3.1 This section examines perceptions of racial prejudice. Respondents were askedwhether they thought that there was less, more or about the same amount ofracial prejudice in Britain today than there was five years ago. In addition, peoplewho felt that there was more or less racial prejudice now, compared with fiveyears ago, were asked which groups they thought there was now more or lessracial prejudice against.

3.2 In 2007-08, 56 per cent of people thought that there was more racial prejudicetoday than five years ago. Twenty-five per cent thought the level of racial prejudicehad stayed the same, 11 per cent thought that it had decreased while 8 per centdid not know (Figure 7, Table 6).

Less11%

More56%

Same25%

Dontknow8%


Figure 7 Perceptions of racial prejudice today compared with five years ago


3.3 The proportion of people who thought that there is more racial prejudice todaythan five years ago has increased from 48 per cent in 2005. In 2001, 43 per centof people expressed this view, while 47 per cent of people said this in 2003(Figure 8, Table 6).

3.4 In 2007-08, the proportions of people who thought that the level of racialprejudice had stayed the same (25%) or decreased (11%) were lower thanthe proportions for 2005 (30% and 16% respectively).

Perceptions of racial prejudice, by ethnicity

3.5 White people were more likely than any other ethnic groups to have said thatthere is more racial prejudice today than five years ago (58%). Forty-eight per centof Pakistani people, 32 per cent of Indian people and 29 per cent of Bangladeshipeople answered in this way, as did 28 per cent of Black Caribbean people,22 per cent of Black African people, and 36 per cent of Mixed Race people.(Figure 9, Table 7). When other factors (eg age and sex) were taken into account ina regression analysis, these differences remained statistically significant for Indian,Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Black African and Mixed Race people.

0

20

40

60

80

100

2007-08200520032001

4347 48

56

Per

cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales (2001: 10,015; 2003: 9,482; 2005: 9,671; 2007-08: 9,333)

Figure 8 Proportion of people saying there is more racial prejudice today compared with five years ago, 2001 to 2007-08


3.6 The proportion of people who thought there was less racial prejudice today thanfive years ago was the highest among Black African (28%) people and lowestamong White people (10%). Meanwhile, 27 per cent of Black Caribbean peopleand 26 per cent of Bangladeshi people thought that racial prejudice had decreased.

3.7 Views on racial prejudice varied by ethnic group. Among White, Indian, Pakistaniand Mixed Race people, the proportion of people who said that there is more racialprejudice today than five years ago was higher than the proportion who said thatthere was less. In contrast, among Black African people, the proportion of peoplewho said that there is less racial prejudice today than five years ago was higherthan the proportion who said that there was more. Among Black Caribbean,Bangladeshi and Chinese people, there was no statistically significant differencebetween the proportions of people who said that there was more prejudice todaythan five years ago and the proportions who said that there was less.

All

Chinese

Indian


White

Bangladeshi

Pakistani

Mixed Race

Black African

Black Caribbean

0 20 40 60 80 100

222828

2729

2616

2132

2136

2048

1758

10

3222

5611

Per cent

Base: Combined sample, England & Wales (14,087); Core sample, England & Wales (9,333)

More racial prejudice Less racial prejudice

Figure 9 Proportion of people saying there is more or less racial prejudice today compared with five years ago, by ethnicity


3.8 Compared with the 2005 findings, there was an increase in the proportion ofWhite people who thought that there was more racial prejudice than five yearsago (from 50% to 58%), and a decrease in the number of people in the diverseChinese/other group who answered in this way (from 32% to 25%). There wasno statistically significant change in the proportion of Asian, Black, or Mixed Racepeople who said that there is more racial prejudice today than five years ago(Figure 10, Table 6).

Perceptions of racial prejudice, by sex

3.9 Women (57%) were more likely than men (54%) to think that there is more racialprejudice today than five years ago (Table 8).

3.10 The difference between the sexes was particularly apparent with regard to BlackCaribbean people (32% of Black Caribbean women thought there was more racialprejudice than five years ago, compared with 23% of men), White people (59%compared with 57%) and people from other ethnic groups (32% compared with26%). Differences between the sexes were not statistically significant for otherethnic groups, except for Chinese people for whom more men (18%) thanwomen (15%) said that there was more racial prejudice today than five years ago.


All

White

Asian

Black

Mixed

Chinese or other

0 20 40 60 80 100

2532

3633

2522

3635

5850

3231

5648

Per cent

Base: Combined sample, England & Wales (2005:14,039, 2007-08: 14,087); Core sample, England & Wales (2005: 9,671, 2007-08: 9,333)

2007-08 2005

Figure 10 Proportions of people saying that there is more racial prejudice today compared with five years ago, by ethnicity, 2005 and 2007-08


Perceptions of racial prejudice, by country of birth

3.11 People who were born in the UK (59%) were more likely than people not born inthe UK (35%) to think that there was more racial prejudice today than five yearsago (Table 9). Despite this, there was no significant difference between the groupsin the proportion who said that there was less racial prejudice today than five yearsago (10% and 17% respectively). The lower proportion of people not born in theUK who said that there is more racial prejudice than five years ago partly reflectsthe fact that 21 per cent of this group felt unable to answer this question,compared with just six per cent of people born in the UK.

3.12 This pattern of higher reporting of increased racial prejudice among those born inthe UK was reflected across all ethnic groups. Sixty per cent of White people whowere born in the UK said that there was more racial prejudice today than five yearsago, compared with 41 per cent of White people not born in the UK. Forty-sevenper cent of Asian people born in the UK, 33 per cent of Black people born in theUK, and 40 per cent of Mixed Race people born in the UK answered in this way,compared to 31 per cent, 21 per cent and 30 per cent respectively of people fromthese ethnic groups who were not born in the UK.

Perceptions of racial prejudice, by religion

3.13 Compared with people from other religious groups, Christians had the mostnegative views on racial prejudice, with 58 per cent saying that there was moreracial prejudice today than five years ago. This compares with 40 per cent ofMuslims, 35 per cent of Sikhs and Buddhists, and 28 per cent of Hindus. Similarly,people with no religion were less likely than Christians to believe that there wasmore racial prejudice than five years ago (52%). However, there was no statisticallysignificant difference between the proportion of Christians and the proportion ofpeople from the Other religious group (56%) answering in this way (Table 13).

3.14 Overall, people who did not actively practise their religion were more likely thanpeople who practised their religion to think that there is more racial prejudicetoday than five years ago (59% compared to 54%).

3.15 Among the individual religious groups, Hindu (24%) people tended to have themost positive views on this issue compared with Christians (11%).

3.16 When other factors such as ethnicity and country of birth were taken into accountin a regression analysis (see below), these differences among religious groups wereno longer statistically significant. Furthermore, the regression analysis identifiedthat, practising Muslims were more likely than practising Christians to feel thatthere was more racial prejudice than five years ago.


Perceptions of racial prejudice, by age, education and socio-economicstatus

3.17 People in older age groups were more likely than those aged 16-24 to think thatracial prejudice had increased. This view was expressed by 58 per cent of peopleaged 75 and over, 66 per cent of people aged 65-74, 60 per cent of people aged50-64, and 56 per cent of people aged 35-49, compared to 42 per cent of thoseaged 16-24 (Table 10).

3.18 People who had no qualifications or had GCSEs or equivalents as their highestqualifications were more likely than those with a degree or equivalent to have saidthat there is more racial prejudice today compared with five years ago. Sixty-threeper cent of people with GCSE grades D-E thought this compared with 49 per centof people with a degree or equivalent (Table 11). However, further analysis showsthat once other factors were taken into account (eg age, sex and ethnicity) thisdifference does not remain statistically significant.

3.19 People in intermediate occupations and small employers (59%) and those in lowersupervisory, technical and semi-routine occupations (58%) were more likely thanthose in the higher or lower managerial and professional group (55%) to thinkthat there was more racial prejudice today than five years ago (Table 12). Full-timestudents (32%) were less likely than those in other socio-economic groups(between 44% and 59%) to say racial prejudice had increased. However, whenother factors were taken into account in the multivariate analysis, socio-economicclassification did not have a statistically significant impact on perceptions of racialprejudice.

Characteristics of people who feel there is more racial prejudice thanthere was five years ago

3.20 A multivariate analysis was carried out to look at the socio-demographic andattitudinal factors that predict perceptions of racial prejudice when the impactsof other variables (eg age, sex, deprivation and ethnicity) are taken into account.Further methodological detail of this analysis is provided at Annex B.

3.21 The analysis found that people from the following groups, and with the followingcharacteristics, were more likely to feel there was more racial prejudice todaycompared with five years ago:

women (compared to men)

people aged over 25 (compared to people aged 16-24)


practising Muslims (compared to practising Christians)


people with incomes between 5,000 and 9,999 or between 15,000 and29,999 and people who would not give their income (compared to peoplewith incomes less than 5,000)

people who do not think their local area was cohesive (compared to those whothought their local area was cohesive )

people who were fairly, not very or not at all proud of their local area(compared to people who were very proud)

people who regularly listen to local radio (compared to those that do not)

people who regularly read national newspapers (compared to those that do not).

3.22 People from the following groups, and with the following characteristics, were lesslikely to feel there is more racial prejudice today compared with five years ago:

Indian, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Black African, Mixed Race, Chinese andother ethnic groups (compared to White people)

people living in the West Midlands and London (compared to people living inthe North East)

people living in England in more deprived areas (in the seventh most depriveddecile and above) and people living in England in areas of medium deprivation(in the fourth decile) (compared to those in England in the least deprived decile)

people who say about a half or less than a half of their friends are from adifferent ethnic group (compared to those that say their friends are all from thesame ethnic group)

people who are not very or not at all worried about crime (compared topeople who were very worried).

3.23 The model also tested a number of other variables, which were found to haveno impact (either positive or negative) on peoples views on the amount of racialprejudice. These variables are listed in Annex B.

Groups perceived to be experiencing more racial prejudice

3.24 People who said that there was more racial prejudice today compared with fiveyears ago were asked which groups they thought that there was more prejudiceagainst. People were not given any prompts, to avoid leading their answers, andinterviewers coded their responses into a concealed on-screen list. The list ofgroups reported below has been designed to cover the wide range of answersobtained and so includes racial groups, religious groups and generic groups suchas new immigrants or Eastern Europeans (Figure 11, Table 14).


3.25 As in 2005, the groups that were most often thought to experience more racialprejudice today were Muslims (44%) and Asian people (39%). The third mostfrequently mentioned group in 2007-08 was Eastern Europeans (29%), whichwas mentioned by far fewer people in 2005 (12%; Figure 12).

3.26 Groups that were least frequently mentioned as those against whom there is nowmore racial prejudice were Chinese, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs and Mixed Race people(Figure 11).

3.27 Compared with 2005, in 2007-08 the following groups were mentioned by agreater proportion of people as experiencing more racial prejudice today thanfive years ago: Muslims (37% in 2005, 44% in 2007-08), Eastern Europeans(12%, 29%) and new immigrants (14%, 17%). On the other hand, asylumseekers or refugees (29% in 2005, 13% in 2007-08) were mentioned by smallerproportions of people than in 2005 (Figure 12).

Muslims

Asian people

Eastern Europeans

Black people

New immigrants


White people

Other groups

Mixed Race people

Sikhs

Jews

Chinese people

Hindus

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

44

39

29

17

17

13

9

7

2

2

1

1

1

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England and Wales, People who say that there is more racial prejudice (5,233)

Figure 11 Groups experiencing more racial prejudice today, compared with five years ago


3.28 White people, Asian people and those in the Chinese or other ethnic group allidentified Asian people and Muslims as groups that were experiencing more racialprejudice today (Table 14).

3.29 Asian people were most likely to mention their own group as one which wasexperiencing more racial prejudice today 57 per cent did so compared to38 per cent of White people. Similarly, Black people were most likely to mentiontheir own group as one which was experiencing more racial prejudice today.Forty-nine per cent of Black people said that Black people experienced moreracial prejudice than five years ago, compared to 17 per cent of White people.

Eastern Europeans

White people

New immigrants

Black people


Muslims

Asian people

0 20 40 60 80 100

4139

3744

2913

1617

1417

1229

79

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales, People who said that there is more racial prejudice (2005: 4,733, 2007-08: 5,233)

2005 2007-08

Figure 12 Main groups experiencing more racial prejudice today, compared with five years ago, 2005 and 2007-08


RELIGION

Chapter 4Profile of religion

4.1 The Citizenship Survey asked people to identify what their religion was even if theywere not currently practising it. People were then asked whether they consideredthemselves to be actively practising their religion. In the reporting of results in thischapter, these questions are used to distinguish between those who said they hada religion (have a religious affiliation) and those who were practising their religion.The former category includes both those who are actively practising their religion,and those who are not.

4.2 Overall, 84 per cent of people reported having a religion while 16 per centreported having no religion. Among those with a religious affiliation, threequarters (74%) identified as Christian. Much smaller proportions identified asMuslim (4%), Hindu (1%), Sikh or Buddhist (both less than 0.5%). Three per centof people mention an other religion. These proportions are broadly similar tothose found in the 2001 Census9 (Figure 13, Table 15).

Other religion

No religion

Buddhist

Sikh

Hindu

Muslim

Christian

0 20 40 60 80 100

7874

34

111***1

31616

Per cent

Base: Core sample, England & Wales, excluding those with missing religion data (9,336)

2001 Census 2007-08 Citizenship Survey

Figure 13 Religious affiliation, 2007-08 Citizenship Survey and 2001 Census

9 2001 Census figures exclude the 7.7% of people that did not state their religion. While figures were broadly similar to those foundin the 2007-08 Citizenship Survey, the Citizenship Survey does show a higher proportion of people in the other religion category(3% compared with 1%). The proportions of Muslims and Sikhs are slightly lower in the survey than in the Census.

Chapter 4 Profile of religion | 39

Profile of religious practice

4.3 Religious practice varied considerably between the different religious groups.Among people who were Christian, 31 per cent said that they were practisingwhile 69 per cent said that they were not practising. Among Muslim people,76 per cent were practising and 24 per cent were not practising. The patternfor Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists were similar to that for Muslims, with 70 per centof Hindus and Sikhs and 66 per cent of Buddhists actively practising their religion.Among people in the other religion group, 49 per cent said that they wereactively practising (Figure 14, Table 15b).

Religion, by ethnicity

4.4 Seventy-nine per cent of White people in England and Wales said they wereChristians, including 24 per cent who actively practised and 55 per cent who didnot. Three per cent of White people cited an other religion. Seventeen per centof White people had no religion (Table 16).

4.5 There was wide variation in religion among Asian people. Overall, 50 per cent ofAsian people said they were Muslims, 26 per cent were Hindus, 12 per cent wereSikhs, seven per cent were Christians, two per cent were Buddhists and two per centhad an other religion. Only two per cent of Asian people did not have a religion.

4.6 Forty-seven per cent of Indian people were Hindu, while 24 per cent were Sikh,16 per cent were Muslim and eight per cent were Christian. One per cent wereBuddhist, three per cent had an other religion, and one per cent had no religion.

Christian

Other religion

Buddhist

Hindu

Sikh

Muslim

0 20 40 60 80 100

76

70

70

66

49

31

Per cent

Base: Combined sample, England & Wales, excluding those with no religion or with missing religion data (12,362)

Figure 14 Proportion of people actively practising, by religion


4.7 Ninety-six per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi people were Muslim. AmongstPakistani people, one per cent were Christian, one per cent had an other religionand one per cent had no religion. Amongst Bangladeshi people, two per centwere Hindu, one per cent were Christian, and one per cent had an other religion.

4.8 Eighty per cent of Black people were Christians, 12 per cent were Muslims, threeper cent had an other religion and six per cent had no religion. The proportion ofBlack people who were Christians was 85 per cent for Black Caribbean people and76 per cent for Black African people. The proportion of Black people who wereMuslims was two per cent for Black Caribbean people and 20 per cent for BlackAfrican people. Five per cent of Black Caribbean people and one per cent of BlackAfrican people had an other religion. Nine per cent of Black Caribbean peopleand three per cent of Black African people had no religion.

4.9 Amongst Mixed Race people, 63 per cent were Christian, nine per cent wereMuslim, two per cent were Hindu, one per cent were Buddhist, six per cent werein the other religion category, and 18 per cent had no religion.

4.10 Amongst Chinese people, 24 per cent were Christian, 18 per cent were Buddhist,one per cent were Muslim, three per cent were in the other religion category, and55 per cent had no religion.

4.11 For people in the Other ethnicity category, 41 per cent were Christian,30 per cent were Muslim, seven per cent were Hindu, six per cent were Buddhist,five per cent had an other religion, and 10 per cent had no religion.

4.12 In contrast to White Christians, most Black Christians are actively practising(57% of Black people were practising Christians, compared to 24% of Whitepeople). The proportion of Black people who were practising Christians was47 per cent for Black Caribbean people and 64 per cent for Black African people.

Religion, by sex and age

4.13 In general, women were more likely than men to say that they actively practisedtheir religion (40% of women who had a religion were actively practisingcompared with 28% of men). For example, 37 per cent of Christian women saidthat they actively practised their religion compared with 25 per cent of Christianmen, 83 per cent of Muslim women said that they actively practised their religioncompared with 70 per cent of Muslim men, and 79 per cent of Hindu women saidthat they actively practised their religion compared with 63 per cent of Hindu men(Table 17).

Chapter 4 Profile of religion | 41

4.14 Overall, people aged 16-29 who had a religion were less likely to actively practisetheir religion than those aged 50 or over (28% compared with 39%). This patternwas also true for Christians (22% compared with 37%), Hindus (65% comparedwith 80%), and people in the other religion category (42% compared with 62%).Amongst Christians, people aged 16-29 were also less likely to actively practisetheir religion than those aged 30-49 (22% compared with 28%; Table 18).

Whether people feel able to actively practise their religion

4.15 People who said that they actively practised their religion (34% of those who saidthey had a religion) were asked whether they felt able to do so freely in Britain.Overall, 94 per cent of these people felt that they could while four per cent feltthat they could partly do so, and three per cent felt that they could not practisetheir religion freely in Britain (Figure 15).

4.16 Ninety-four per cent of practising Christians said they felt able to freely practisetheir religion. This was similar to the proportions of practising Hindus andBuddhists answering in this way (96% and 95% respectively). Practising Sikhs(98%) were more likely than practising Christians to say that they felt able topractise their religion freely. Practising Muslims and people who practised otherreligions were less likely than Christians to answer in this way, with 88 and90 per cent of these groups respectively saying so (Table 53).

Yes94%

Partly4%

No3%

Base: Core sample, England & Wales, People who actively practise a religion (2,869)

Figure 15 Proportion of people that actively practise a religion who feel they are able to practise their religion freely


Whether people feel able to actively practise their religion,by ethnicity

4.17 There were no statistically significant differences between the different ethnicsubgroups of practising Muslims in terms of the proportion of people sayingthat they felt free to practise their religion. Eighty-seven per cent of PakistaniMuslims who practised their religion answered in this way, as did 85 per centof Bangladeshi Muslims, 88 per cent of Indian Muslims and 88 per cent of BlackAfrican Muslims who practised their religion (Table 54).

Whether people feel able to actively practise their religion,by country of birth

4.18 Overall, there was no statistically significant difference between the proportionsof people born in the UK and the proportions of people not born in the UKsaying that they felt free to practise their religion. There was also no statisticaldifference between these groups for White people and Mixed Race people.However, Asian and Black people who were born in the UK and actively practiseda religion were less likely to say that they were able to practise it freely than thosewithin the same ethnic groups who were born outside the UK. Ninety-three percent of Asian and Black people who were not born in the UK and who practisedtheir religion felt that they were free to practise their religion, compared with86 per cent of Asian people and 89 per cent of Black people who were born inthe UK and who practised their religion (Table 56).

Whether people feel able to actively practise their religion,by age and sex

4.19 People aged 50 and over who practised a religion were more likely than peopleaged 16-29 to say that they felt able to do so freely. Ninety-six per cent of peopleaged 50 and over who practised a religion said that they felt free to do so,compared with 91 per cent of those aged 16-29 (Table 55).

4.20 The difference in perceptions by age was particularly apparent for Muslims: 94 percent of practising Muslims aged 50 and over and 89 per cent of practising Muslimsaged 30-49 felt they could practise their religion freely compared with 83 per centof practising Muslims aged 16-29.

4.21 There was no difference in how free people felt to practise their religion accordingto sex (Table 57).

Chapter 5 Religious prejudice | 43

RELIGION

Chapter 5Religious prejudice

Perceptions of the level of religious prejudice in Britain today

5.1 Most people (89%) felt that there was some degree of religious prejudice in Britaintoday: 31 per cent thought that there was a lot of religious prejudice, 39 per centthought that there was a fair amount and 20 per cent thought that there wasa little. Three per cent thought that there was no religious prejudice while sevenper cent did not know (Figure 16, Table 19).

5.2 Overall perceptions of religious prejudice are unchanged from 2005 when89 per cent of people thought that there was some degree of religious prejudicein Britain. However, the proportion who said that there is a lot of religiousprejudice rose from 24 per cent in 2005 to 31 per cent in 2007-08.

A lot31%

None 3%

A fair amount39%

A little20%

Dontknow/

cant say8%


Figure 16 Perceptions of the level of religious prejudice in Britain


5.3 There were some differences in the proportions of people from different religionswho felt that there was a lot of religious prejudice. Muslims (35%) and peoplefrom other religions (41%) were more likely than Christians (30%) to think thatthere was a lot of religious prejudice, while Hindus (18%) were less likely thanChristians (30%) to do so (Table 20). These patterns were reflected in multivariateanalysis which is reported at the end of this section.

5.4 A similar pattern was also observed in 2005: Muslims (33%) were most likely tosay that there was a lot of religious prejudice in Britain and Hindus (20%) wereleast likely to say this.

5.5 Among Christians, perceptions of religious prejudice were higher for BlackCaribbean Christians, 38 per cent of whom said that there is a lot of religiousprejudice, than for White Christians, 30 per cent of whom said this. There wereno other notable differences in perceptions of religious prejudice between ethnicsub-groups for the main religions (Table 19).

5.6 Peoples views about the amount of religious prejudice in Britain did not varyaccording to whether or not they actively practised religion, or have no religion(Table 20). This finding was also the case in 2005.

5.7 There was a strong relationship between country of birth and views aboutreligious prejudice in Britain, with people born in the UK perceiving greater levelsof prejudice than those born outside the UK. Overall, 31 per cent of people bornin the UK said that there is a lot of religious prejudice compared with 25 per centof those born outside the UK. This pattern of difference between UK and non-UKborn people was observed for all ethnic groups. Thirty-eight per cent of Asianpeople born in the UK and 47 per cent of Black people born in the UK answered inthis way, compared with 23 per cent and 31 per cent of people from these ethnicgroups not born in the UK. Thirty-one per cent of White people born in the UK feltthat there is a lot of religious prejudice, compared with 26 per cent of Whitepeople not born in the UK (Table 22). These findings are in line with a multivariateanalysis described below.

5.8 There were no statistically significant differences in perceptions of religiousprejudice according to gender, age or socio-economic group (Table 20, Table 23,Table 24 and Table 25).

Chapter 5 Religious prejudice | 45

Characteristics of people who feel that there is a lot of religiousprejudice in Britain today

5.9 A multivariate analysis was carried out to examine in more detail the associationsbetween whether people feel that there is a lot of religious prejudice in Britainand a number of social demographic and other factors. This analysis tested whichfactors have a statistically significant association with perceptions of religiousprejudice, over and above the effects of other factors. Further methodologicaldetail of this analysis is provided at Annex B.

5.10 This analysis found that people from the following groups, and with the followingcharacteristics, were more likely to feel that there is a lot of religious prejudicetoday:

people aged 25-64 (compared to people aged 16-24)

Black Caribbean, Black African and Mixed Race people (compared toWhite people)


practising and non-practising Muslims and people from other religions,both practising and non-practising (compared to practising Christians)

people living in England in the third least deprived decile and people

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