2.1. Introduction

The West Midlands region has the second largest proportion of people from black and minority ethnic groups in the UK making up 11.3% of its population. The percentage of the population from black and minority ethnic groups in the West Midlands was 8.2% in 1991. Only the London region is more diverse with 40.2% of its population describing themselves as from a black and minority ethnic group (Figure 2.1). This chapter uses data from the 2001 Census to describe the West Midlands region population’s ethnic groups in terms of demography, education, economic status and health.

Figure 2.1. Ethnic diversity across England by region, percentage of the population from black and minority ethnic groups, 2001

Across the West Midlands the black and minority ethnic population ranges from 0.7% of the Staffordshire Moorlands’ population to 29.6% of Birmingham being from black and minority ethnic groups. The majority of our black and minority ethnic populations live in the metropolitan areas of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. Ethnic diversity across the West Midlands region: percentage of population from black and minority ethnic groups, by local authority

2.2. Demography

The age profile of each ethnic group is quite different (see Figures 2.3 to 2.5).

All the Asian groups have a proportionally younger age population than the profile for the whole population. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani populations share a similar age profile, which is proportionally younger than that of the Indian and Other Asian groups (Figure 2.3).

The three largest Black groups show very marked differences to each other and both the Asian and whole populations (Figure 2.4). The Black Caribbeans have two marked peaks in their profile between the ages of 25-49 and 60-74. The Other Blacks have a similar peak in the 25-49 age group and an additional peak in the 5-19 age group. This distinct generational pattern is not seen in either the Asian or whole population profiles.

The Chinese and Other Ethnic group have similar age profiles both having a single distinct peak although the Other Ethnic group occurs in the slightly older 25-29 age group compared to the Chinese that peaks in the 20-24 age group (Figure 2.5).

All the Mixed categories share similar age profiles having the greatest proportion of their populations aged under 24 years.

In each figure the age profile is given as a percentage of the total population for that ethnic group. The regional age profile, whole population, is provided in each figure as a comparator.

	Figure 2.3. Age profile of Asian ethnic groups in the West Midlands
	Figure 2.4. Age profile of Black ethnic groups in the West Midlands
	Figure 2.5. Age profile of Chinese, White and other ethnic groups in the West Midlands

2.3. Demography – Country of Birth

As immigrants have settled and had families, and their children have started to have families the proportion of those born outside the UK are declining as a percentage of the black and minority ethnic population. Over 50% of the Black Caribbean, Black Other, Pakistani and Indian populations were born in the UK (see Figure 2.6).

Figure 2.6. Percentage of the West Midlands population born in the UK, by ethnic group

2.4. Education

Education has been reported to be vital to health, as those with low levels of educational achievement are known to suffer from poorer health in later life (Department of Health, 1999). The 2001 Census categorised educational attainment into 5 levels, a description of these levels is given in Table 2.1.

Across the adult (16-74 year olds) population the highest qualified, those with the highest percentage attaining level 4/5, are the Other Ethnic (41.9%), Black African (38.7%) and Chinese (34.9%) (Table 2.2). However, as the opportunity for education in the adult population is likely to be heavily influenced by the provision of schooling in the first generation’s home country, for a more representative comparison it is important to consider educational attainment in the younger ages who are likely to have been schooled in the UK. In the 16-24 year age group we see over a fivefold difference in the percentage attaining level 4/5 across the groups Table 2.3). Only 4.3% of the Mixed White and Black Caribbean attain this level compared to 24.8% of Chinese. The Pakistani population has the highest percentage (30.1%) of its 16-24 year olds achieving no qualifications.

	Table 2.1. Description of education levels
	Table 2.2. Percentage attaining the differing education levels by ethnic group for the population of the West Midlands aged 16 to 74
	Table 2.3. Percentage attaining the differing education levels by ethnic group, population aged 16-24 years in the West Midlands

2.5. Economic activity

Employment, like education, is a route out of poverty and hence to good health. Unemployment acts in four ways to the detriment of good health: through increasing poverty and material hardship depriving people of good housing, diet and warmth; by social exclusion, isolation and stigma; changing health related behaviour; and through disrupting future work patterns (Stewart 1999).

People are considered to be economically active, or in the labour force, if they are aged 16 and over and are either in work or actively looking for work. In the 16-24 year old age group the most economically active group is the White group (67.9%) compared to only 24.5% of the Chinese group (see Figure 2.7). In the older age group (aged 25 and over) the most economically active group is the Other Black group (70.5%).

To understand the reasons for some of this variation it is possible to look at their declared economic activity in a little more detail (see Tables 2.4 and 2.5).

Figure 2.7. The percentage of the West Midlands population who are economically active, by age and ethnic group

In the 16-24 age group (Table 2.4), the white population is more likely than the other groups to be working, with 39.8% in full time employment, whilst the Chinese are most likely to be studying (87.7%). More than one in eight Bangladeshi (13.8%) and Pakistani (12.7%) people are looking after the home or family. The Black Caribbean and Mixed White and Black Caribbean groups have the highest levels of unemployment at 13.6% and 14.6% respectively.

Table 2.4. Economic activities by ethnic group, percentage of the West Midlands population aged 16-24 years and older

In those aged 25 and over (Table 2.5), the Chinese are most likely to be self-employed (17.3%). Other Blacks are both the most likely to be unemployed (10.9%) as well as having the highest percentage in full time employment (42.4%). The Pakistani group has the highest level of permanently sick or disabled (9.2%).

Table 2.5. Economic activities by ethnic group, percentage of West Midlands population aged 25 years and older

2.6. Car or van ownership

Not having a car or a van available to a household has been shown to be a useful indicator of material deprivation and therefore can be used to highlight those populations that are likely to be disadvantaged in terms of personal and household goods. The Indian households have the highest levels of car or van availability (80.0%), and the Black African has the lowest (47.0%) (Figure 2.8)

Figure 2.8. Percentage of West Midlands households with a car or van available to them, by ethnic group

2.7. Housing

Tenure

It has long been accepted that warm, dry and safe homes are vital for health and that those who are most disadvantaged in terms of education, employment, income and access to services experience the worst quality homes (Mant 1986). Owning your home has been shown to have a positive influence on health with homeowners reporting lower crime and nuisance, less damp and fewer injuries in the home (Filatki 1995). Across the West Midlands the highest level of home ownership is seen in the Indian population (81.4%), the lowest amongst the Black Africans (30.8%) who tend to rent privately (Figure 2.9), perhaps reflecting the high percentage of students among this group.

Figure 2.9. Percentage of West Midlands households by tenure, by ethnic group

Amenities and overcrowding

There are two measures of housing quality given in the Census. The first relates to amenities in the home, such as sanitation and as reported here the provision of central heating in homes. Over one in four Pakistani homes (27.0%) do not have central heating compared to less than one in twelve Indian (7.7%) or Chinese (7.6%) homes (Table 2.6). The second relates to the availability of household space in terms of overcrowding. The Census reported that only 6% of White people lived in homes categorised as overcrowded, whereas 38.4% of Bangladeshi households are categorised as overcrowded (Table 2.6). Overcrowding is defined as having at least one room too few for the number of people living in a household. A simple example is that a family of four (two parents and two different sex children) should have a minimum of five rooms, three bedrooms and two common rooms (excluding bathrooms). If there were only four rooms this household would be described as overcrowded.

Table 2.6. Percentage of West Midlands households with no central heating and those that are overcrowded, by ethnic group

There are clear differences in the composition of households by ethnic group (Table 2.7). There are a high percentage of White (15.2%) and Black Caribbean (10.8%) pensioners living alone. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani population tend to be made up of married couples with dependent children, whilst the Black ethnic groups tend to be living alone.

Table 2.7. Percentage composition of household by ethnic group in the West Midlands

2.8. Health

The 2001 Census for the first time contained a question on self assessed health status. People were asked to state whether their health was “good”, “fairly good” or “not good”. Figure 2.10 shows the percentages of people who reported their health to be “fair or good”. The Other Ethnic (96.2%) and Black Caribbean (95.0%) groups reported the highest levels of ” fair or good health”. The Other Black population reported the lowest levels (87.5% compared to the regional population level of 90.1%) of “fair or good health”.

Figure 2.10. Percentage of the West Midlands population with “fair or good health” by ethnic group

Limiting Long Term Illness

A limiting long term illness (LLTI) is reported by nearly one in five (18.7%) of our population (Figure 2.11). The ethnic group with the highest level of limiting long term illness is a subgroup of the white population this being the White Irish with nearly one in three (30.8%) reporting such a condition. This ethnic group have been reported for the first time here because of the high level of LLTI in that population. The lowest level of LLTI is reported by the Chinese (7.9%) and Mixed White and Black African (8.5%) groups.

Figure 2.11. Percentage of the West Midlands population with a limiting long term illness

References

Department of Health. Saving Lives – Our Healthier Nation. London; The Stationary Office. 1999

Stewart, MB. Low pay, no pay dynamics. In Persistent Poverty and Lifetime Inequality: the evidence. CASE and Her Majesty’s Treasury. 1999
(http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/pdf/1999/perspov2.pdf)

Mant D, Muir Gray JA. Building regulation and health Watford: Building Research Establishment. 1985.

Filatki H. Fox J. Differences in mortality using housing tenure and by car access from the OPCS longitudinal study. Population Trends. 81: 27-30

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