Workers from China earning more in UK than white British counterparts

A new report from the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics has revealed that expatriate workers from China and India are earning more than their white British counterparts and more than workers from any other ethnic group.

The study from the government department that is also known as the ONS is the first to comprehensively analyze the issue of earnings related to ethnicity in the UK.

It found workers from the Chinese diaspora earned 30.9 percent more than white British employees in 2018.

But the study found that white British workers, while earning significantly less than workers from China, India, and those from the "mixed" ethnic group, earned 3.8 percent more than the average worker from all other ethnic groups in the UK.

Hugh Stickland, a senior analyst at the ONS, told the BBC: "Overall, employees from certain ethnic groups such as Indian and Chinese, have higher average earnings than their white British counterparts. However, all other ethnic groups have average wages lower than for white British employees, with employees from the Bangladeshi ethnic group having the largest pay gap."

He said the pay gap between white British workers and lower-paid ethnic groups narrowed when weighted to reflect people's educations and career choices.

The study found the average worker with a Chinese background earned 15.75 pounds ($19.64) an hour in the UK in 2018, while the average Indian worker earned 13.47 pounds, and workers from the mixed/multiple ethnicity group earned 12.33 pounds an hour. White British workers earned 12.03 pounds an hour.

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "The harsh reality is that even today race still plays a real role in determining pay. Ministers must take bold action to confront inequality and racism in the labor market. The obvious first step is to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting without delay."

For the purpose of the report, the ONS divided workers in the UK into 10 categories: White British, White other, Mixed or multiple ethnicity, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Other Asian, Black African/Caribbean/Black British, and other ethnic group.