We need better data to address regional race disparity

This report is a collaboration between Dr Saffron Karlsen (in the School for Sociology, Politics and International Studies), Angelique Retief (from Black South West Network and a PhD student in the School for Policy Studies) and Sado Jirde (Black South West Network)

Key findings include:

• There are a number of problems with the data presented in the government’s Race Disparity Audit (RDA) which limit their value for understanding ethnic inequalities in education, employment, health, housing and inclusion in the region because fewer indicators are available at regional level. For example, regional data on inclusion is limited to internet use and health is limited to physical exercise.
• There are problems with the ethnic classifications used for many of the indicators which impairs out capacity to draw useful inferences about what is driving inequalities and how to address it. While partly driven by small sample sizes, this also relates to decisions made during data collection and misunderstandings about what ethnicity is and how it affects people’s lives.
• Some measures are categorised by region and others are by local authority, such as those for educational outcomes. This limits opportunities for comparison with other indicators and also other regions.
• The capacity to interpret some findings – e.g. regarding levels of homelessness by local authority – is limited by a lack of information regarding the ethnic profile of local authorities in the region.
• There are also problems with the level of analysis to which these regional data are exposed. Ethnic inequalities in health and other experiences are significantly affected by differences in age, socioeconomic position etc between the groups.