Young Black unemployment rate at 40 per cent during pandemic

Resolution Foundation analysis has found that the pandemic has exacerbated employment gaps among ethnic groups in the UK

Young people aged between 16-24 have bore the brunt of the increase in unemployment during the pandemic making up 57 per cent of job losses - but it is young Black Brits that have carried the heaviest burden. 

Before the pandemic, some one in four Black young people in this age group were unemployed, now the figure is now more than one in three.

Unemployment rates among young Black people are now disturbingly similar to those during the time of the Brixton riots.

While there have been job losses among other ethnic groups, they have not been as steep as that of young Black people.

Unemployment among young people from Asian backgrounds has increased from 21 per cent to 24 per cent, with unemployment among their white counterparts increasing from 10 per cent to 13 per cent. 

Senior research and policy analyst at Resolution Foundation said Kathleen Henehan said:  "The furlough scheme has done a fantastic job of minimising job losses amidst unprecedented shutdowns of our economy," she said.

"But young people have still experienced a sharp rise in unemployment during the Covid-19 crisis - with recent education-leavers and young black people being hardest hit.

"Young people have sacrificed their livelihoods in order to save the lives of others from Covid-19, and putting their careers back on track must be a priority for government in the months and years ahead."

This comes after a report commissioned by the government claimed there was no evidence that the UK was "institutionally racist."

The report has been poorly received and fiercely criticised by a vast array of groups specialising in the area calling it a "whitewash".

Anti-racism think tank the Runnymeade Trust, the National Education Union, Liberty, and Windrush campaigners were among those that backed an open letter this month condemning the report. 

"Disingenuous claims, including the Commission’s assertion that its research found no evidence of institutional racism in the UK, have provoked public incredulity and national indignation," part of the letter read.

"The danger is that a report so lacking in credibility will be left to circulate and take us back to the ‘colour bar’ of the 1960s.”