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Inequality Briefing - Inequality in the UK

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Why middle class kids get the best jobs - BBC Stories

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The calculations are based on our previous analysis of CEO pay disclosures in companies annual reports, combined with government statistics showing pay levels across the UK economy.

We estimate that with CEO pay levels remaining essentially flat in their analysis, while pay for UK workers had increased slightly, it means that CEOs have to work 34 hours of the year to surpass median earnings, rather than just 33 hours in 2020.

However, the most recent figures on CEO pay and UK full time workers' annual earnings is still too dated to fully account for the impact of the coronavirus - therefore it remains to be seen how this has affected pay gaps across the UK, both over the duration of the pandemic and in the longer term.

Pay for top CEOs today is about 120 times that of the typical UK worker. Estimates suggest it was around 50 times at the turn of the millennium or 20 times in the early 1980s.

Factors such as the increasing role played by the finance industry in the economy, the outsourcing of low-paid work and the decline of trade union membership have widened the gaps between those at the top and everybody else over recent decades.

These figures will raise concern about the governance of big businesses and whether major employers are distributing pay in a way that rewards the contribution of different workers fairly. They should also prompt debate about the effects that high levels of inequality can have on social cohesion, crime, and public health and wellbeing.

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The calculations are based on our previous analysis of CEO pay disclosures in companies annual reports, combined with government statistics showing pay levels across the UK economy. We estimate that with CEO pay levels remaining essentially flat in their analysis, while pay for UK workers had increased slightly, it means that CEOs have to work 34 hours of the year to surpass median earnings, rather than just 33 hours in 2020.

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Figure 1: The gender pay gap has been declining slowly over time, falling approximately a quarter over the last decade

Gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), UK, April 1997 to 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Download this chart

The gender pay gap has been declining slowly over time; over the last decade it has fallen by approximately a quarter among both full-time employees and all employees.

In 2021, the gap among full-time employees was 7.9%, up from 7.0% in 2020. This is still below the gap of 9.0% before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019, and so the downward trend is continuing. We recommend looking at the longer-term trend. Among all employees, the gender pay gap increased to 15.4%, from 14.9% in 2020, but is still down from 17.4% in 2019.

The gender pay gap for part-time employees also reduced from negative 3.5% to negative 2.7%. The upward trend in the part-time gender pay gap, seen since 2015, is continuing.

The gender pay gap is higher for all employees than it is for full-time employees or part-time employees. This is because women fill more part-time jobs, which in comparison with full-time jobs have lower hourly median pay.

Figure 2: In 2021, more women than men were furloughed with a loss of pay, this was the opposite in 2020

Percent of employees in Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings who were furloughed with reduced pay, UK, April 2020 and 2021

Source: Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Download this chart

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) collects information from employers about pay, hours and aspects such as whether pay was reduced because of absence. This information was supplemented in 2020 by details of whether employee jobs were furloughed at 22 April, drawn from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which resulted in the furlough estimates for 2020 ASHE showing an undercount of approximately 20% against the CJRS. However, in 2021 the survey asked employers whether an employee was on furlough during the pay period of 21 April 2021 and was not supplemented by official CJRS data. Therefore, estimates of furlough in 2020 and 2021 will be on a slightly different basis.

The data collected in ASHE 2021 relates to the pay period covering 21 April 2021, at which point approximately 3.7 million employees were furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The data for 2020 refers to the pay period covering 22 April 2020, when approximately 8.8 million employees were furloughed. For both years, approximately a half of these furloughed employees received reduced pay. This has the potential to artificially affect the gender pay gap estimates in for both years. For example, if a notably higher proportion of men than women (or vice versa) were furloughed with reduced pay, the headline gender pay gap estimates would be more likely to reflect short-term labour market conditions rather than underlying pay trends.

A slightly higher proportion of women than men were furloughed with reduced pay in April 2021 (Figure 2). The opposite was true in April 2020, where a higher proportion of men than women were furloughed with reduced pay, which could partly explain why the gender pay gap is slightly larger in 2021.

For both men and women, the vast majority of furloughed employees were in the lowest-paying jobs; the 10% lowest-earners were substantially more likely than the average employee to fall into this definition. This is illustrated by Figure 3 in the Low and High Pay: 2021 bulletin.

Figure 3: The gender pay gap for full-time employees aged 40 years and over is much higher than for employees aged below 40 years

Gender pay gap for full-time median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), by age-group, UK, April 1997 to 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Download this chart

The clearest insight into the gender pay gap is provided by analysis across age groups. For age groups under 40 years, the gender pay gap for full-time employees (which is a more homogenous basis than all employees for measuring differences in hourly pay) is low, at 3% or below. This has been the case since 2017.

However, for age groups 40 to 49 years and older, the gender pay gap for full-time employees is much higher, at approximately 12%. Our 2019 analysis explored the types of occupation that men and women work in, by age group. In particular, it flagged a lower incidence of women moving into higher-paid managerial occupations after the age of 39 years, at which point pay in these occupations increases.

All age groups experienced a decrease in gender pay gap in 2020; this was largest for employees aged 50 to 59 years and 60 years and over. The gap for most age groups increased in 2021 (although still in line with the previous downward trend); however, it remained at a similar level for employees in these two highest age groups (50 years and over).

Figure 4: The largest fall in the gender pay gap since before the pandemic is among managers, directors and senior officials

Gender pay gap for full-time median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), by occupation, UK, April 2019 to 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Download this chart

A positive gender pay gap among full-time employees exists in each of the nine main occupation groups, but it has fallen since 2019 in all except two: the skilled trade occupation saw a small increase and elementary occupations has returned to its 2019 level.

Similarly, compared with 2020, the gender pay gap in 2021 increased for the majority of occupation groups, with only professional occupations and associate professional and technical occupations experiencing decreases.

The largest fall since before the pandemic is among managers, directors and senior officials, from 16.3% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2021, reflecting some signs of more women holding higher-paid managerial roles. This occupation group has one of the highest median pay - £22.01 per hour (excluding overtime) for full-time employees, compared with £15.59 among all full-time employee jobs - and it therefore has a strong impact on the gender pay gap.

The large decrease in the managers, directors and senior officials' occupation since 2020 can be partly attributed to the decrease in gender pay gap for employees aged 50 years and over (Figure 3). When looking at managers, directors and senior officials by age group, those aged 50 to 59 years decreased by over 11 percentage points and for 60 years and over by over 5 percentage points and remained at similar level in 2021.

Figure 5: Explore the gender pay gap by occupation

Gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), all, full-time, and part-time employees, by occupation, UK, April 2021

Notes:

1. Estimates for 2021 data are provisional.

2. Employees are on adult rates, pay is unaffected by absence unless furloughed.

3. Full-time is defined as employees working more than 30 paid hours per week (or 25 or more for the teaching professions).

4. Figures represent the difference between men's and women's hourly earnings as a percentage of men's hourly earnings.

5. Some occupations can be included in more than one grouping.

6. Some data is unavailable as considered unreliable (small sample size).

7. The quality of earning estimates vary by occupation - quality measures are available in the accompanying published data tables.

8. Please note that the percentages in this visual may differ to the figures in the accompanying published data tables by 0.1% due to the effects of rounding. When conducting any analyses, please use the data from the tables.

Download the data

Figure 6: The difference in pay between the sexes is largest among higher earners

Difference in gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for full-time men and women at the top and bottom deciles and median, UK, 1997 to 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Download this chart

The 90th percentile male employee (that is, one who earns more than 90% of other male employees, but less than the other 10%) earns substantially more than the equivalent woman employee. The difference in pay, expressed in gender pay gap terms, is 16.1% for full-time employees. This is much higher than the gap among median earners (7.9%) and the bottom 10% of earners (3.1%).

Following a decrease in the gender pay gap across all deciles in 2020, all but the highest-earning employees have experienced an increase in gender pay gap in 2021. The highest-earning employees were less affected by furlough, and so the downward trend continued as normal for this group.

Figure 7: The gender pay gap is higher in all English regions than in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for full-time employees, by work region, UK, April 1997 and 2021

Notes:

1. Estimates for 2021 data are provisional.

2. Employees are on adult rates, pay is unaffected by absence unless furloughed.

3. Full-time is defined as employees working more than 30 paid hours per week (or 25 or more for the teaching professions).

4. Figures represent the difference between men's and women's hourly earnings as a percentage of men's hourly earnings.

Download the data
The gender pay gap varies substantially between regions. In every region of England, it is higher than in each of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

This is a very different pattern from 1997, when the gender pay gap was quite equal between the regions of the UK.

In the case of Northern Ireland in particular, the gender pay gap is affected by a higher proportion of women working in the public sector where pay rates for some jobs are higher than in the private sector.

London stands out as being the only region where the gender pay gap is very similar now to its 1997 level. This is not a new development and has been highlighted previously. Drivers of the gender pay gap are numerous and although jobs in London have a greater skew to higher-skilled occupations, the relative change in proportion of full-time jobs by occupation since 1997 shows a similar pattern in London to that of the whole UK, meaning that factors beyond this need to be considered.

Analysis conducted by Office for National Statistics (ONS) based on ASHE 2017 data concluded that only 36% of the difference between men and women's pay could be explained by the attributes modelled from ASHE (with occupation being the highest, explaining 23% of the difference). This highlights the need for additional investigation, for example, separate ONS analysis has identified that - when changing job - women are more likely than men to accept lower pay in favour of a shorter commute. This is particularly noticeable in parts of the South East where commuting time to London is a consideration and is likely to affect the number of women moving into managerial positions.
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Gender pay gap in the UK - Office for National Statistics

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Gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), UK, April 1997 to 2021 Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) Download this chart The gender pay gap has been declining slowly over time; over the last decade it has fallen by approximately a quarter among both full-time employees and all employees.

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The gender pay gap reflects inequalities and discrimination in the labour market that mostly affect women. Women earn significantly less than men over their entire careers for complex, often interrelated reasons. These include:

differences in caring responsibilities

more women in low skilled and low paid work

outright discrimination

The current median aggregate gap for part time and full time workers is 18.4%.
The current overall mean gap for full time workers is 14.1%.
At current rates of progress, it will take 100 years to close the gender pay gap.
Progress in closing the gap has stalled - it hasn't changed in the last three years. There is no guarantee that the gap will close over time - it needs significant action from Government, businesses, and society.

Read our full briefing for Equal Pay Gap 2017 here.

Help close the gap for good

Every year we mark Equal Pay Day, the day from which women effectively stop earning relative to men. This year, Equal Pay Day is on November 10th. Whether you are an individual or employer, you can help to close the gap for good.

There are four big causes of the gender pay gap:

Discrimination: It's illegal, but some women are still paid less than men for the same work. Discrimination, particularly around pregnancy and maternity leave, remains common, with 54,000 women forced to leave their job every year after becoming a mother.

Unequal caring responsibilities: Women play a greater role in caring for children, as well as for sick or elderly relatives. As a result more women work part time, and these jobs are typically lower paid with fewer progression opportunities.

A divided labour market: Women are still more likely to be in low paid and low skilled jobs, affecting labour market segregation. 80% of those working in the low paid care and leisure sector are women, while only 10% of those in the better paid skilled trades are women.

Men in the most senior roles: Men make up the majority of those in the highest paid and most senior roles - for example, there are just seven female Chief Executives in the FTSE 100.

What progress have we made?

Our campaigning led to new gender pay gap reporting legislation, which requires organisations with over 250 employees to publish data on their gender pay gaps, including bonuses, by April 2018. We want employers to see this as an opportunity to address the productivity gap, as tackling workplace inequality could help 840,000 women into work and would allow them to reach their full potential.

We are hosting a series of Gender Pay Gap Reporting events with Neil Stewart Associates to help businesses drive positive change. Here's Chief Executive Sam Smethers at our Gender Pay Gap Reporting Conference in October 2016 on why gender equality in the workplace makes business sense.

What are we campaigning for?

We are campaigning for employers to:

Advertise all jobs in their organisation as flexible, part-time or a job share unless there is a strong business case not to.

Support women to progress to higher paid jobs, and tackle unconscious bias and use targets to measure progress.

Become a living wage employer - over 60% of those earning less that the living wage are women.

We want the government to:

Implement meaningful penalties for employers who do not comply with gender pay gap reporting rules.

Create targets for apprenticeships and aim for 50:50 recruitment. Apprenticeships are publically funded but at the moment the ones in the highest paid sectors remain dominated by men. There is a £2,000 gender pay gap at apprenticeship level.

Introduce a dedicated period of leave for fathers paid closer to replacement earnings rate. Current shared parental leave legislation is welcome, but too few fathers will be able to take it.

Build on the extension of free childcare by investing in our childcare infrastructure so that we have affordable, flexible and high quality care for children.

Help close the gap for good

Do you believe that women should be valued equally for their work and skills? Here's what you can do to speed up progress.

Stay informed

The Fawcett Society regularly publishes new research on the gender pay gap, including our briefing for Equal Pay Day 2017 and our report Gender Pay Gap by Ethnicity in Britain . Stay informed by reading gender pay gap-related news here and signing up for our newsletter, which includes information about how to support Fawcett, below.

Campaign with us

Every year, we mark Equal Pay Day to urge employers and politicians to take serious steps towards closing the gender pay gap for good. Find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved here.

Join Fawcett

The best way to ensure our work continues is by joining Fawcett as a member. Stand up for women's rights. Join us today.

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The gender pay gap reflects inequalities and discrimination in the labour market that mostly affect women. Women earn significantly less than men over their entire careers for complex, often interrelated reasons. These include: differences in caring responsibilities more women in low skilled and low paid work outright discrimination The current median aggregate gap for part time and full time workers is 18.4%.

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1. Main facts and figures

in the year ending March 2020, 13% of people aged 16 and over said they had been the victim of a crime at least once in the last year

this was down from 17% in the year ending March 2014

over the 7 years covered, the percentage of White people who said they were victims of crime went down from 17% to 13%

men from Mixed ethnic backgrounds (21%) were more likely to be victims of crime than men from any other ethnic group for the 3 years from April 2017 to March 2020

Asian people aged 75 and over (11%) were more likely to be a victim of crime than White people aged 75 and over (6%)

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the percentage of people who said they had been the victim of at least one crime in the last year, by ethnicity.

The data measures whether someone was either:

a victim of at least one crime

a resident of a household that had been subject to at least one household crime (like burglary)

Estimates in the charts and tables are given to the nearest whole number.

Not included in the data

The data does not include:

people living in communal establishments (such as care homes, university accommodation and prisons)

crimes against commercial or public sector bodies, fraud or computer misuse, homicide and sexual offences

the number of times people were victims of crime, or the seriousness of any crime

Estimates based on fewer than 50 respondents are not shown because they are not reliable.

The ethnic groups used in the data

In the data by ethnicity over time, estimates are shown for the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census.

In the other data, estimates are shown for the following 5 aggregated groups:

This is because the number of people surveyed from some ethnic groups was too small to make reliable generalisations.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for this data.

In the analyses by ethnicity and gender, age and socio-economic group, the data is an average for the 3 years from April 2017 to March 2020. This is to make sure there are enough people to be able to make reliable generalisations. You can read more about combining multiple years of data and some of the issues involved.

Read more about:

In the data file

See Download the data for estimates rounded to 1 decimal place.

Summary of Victims of crime By ethnicity over time Summary

The data shows that:

in the year ending March 2020, 13% of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales said they were a victim of a least one crime in the last year

this was down from 17% in the year ending March 2014

the percentage of people who said they were victims of crime ranged from 13% in the White ethnic group to 20% in the Mixed ethnic group

over the 7 years covered, the percentage of White people who said they were victims of crime went down from 17% to 13%

although the data shows changes in other ethnic groups, these are not reliable because of the smaller number of people surveyed

Summary of Victims of crime By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that:

men from Mixed ethnic backgrounds (21%) were more likely to be victims of crime than men from any other ethnic group

women from Mixed ethnic backgrounds (19%) were more likely to be victims of crime than White women (14%)

differences between men and women in other ethnic groups are not reliable

Summary of Victims of crime By ethnicity and age group Summary

The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:

among White people, younger people were more likely than older people to say they had been the victim of a crime in the last 12 months

among the White and Mixed ethnic groups, the experience of being a victim of crime went down as age increased

White 16 to 24 year-olds (20%) were more likely to be a victim of crime than Asian 16 to 24 year-olds (15%)

Asian people aged 75 and over (11%) were more likely to be a victim of crime than White people aged 75 and over (6%)

differences between other ethnic groups and age groups are not reliable

Summary of Victims of crime By ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary

The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:

White full-time students (20%) were more likely to be victims of crime than White people in 'routine and manual' jobs (13%), 'intermediate' jobs (13%), 'managerial and professional' jobs (14%) and long-term unemployment (14%)

Black people in 'managerial and professional' (17%), 'routine and manual' jobs (15%), 'intermediate' jobs (17%) and full-time students (15%) were more likely to be victims of crime than Black people in long-term unemployment (6%)

White full-time students (20%) were more likely to be victims of crime than Asian students (14%)

among people in 'managerial and professional' jobs, people from Mixed (23%) and Asian (18%) ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be victims of crime than White people (14%)

among people in 'routine and manual' jobs, people from Mixed ethnic backgrounds (21%) were more likely to be victims of crime than White and Asian people (both 13%)

among people in long term unemployment, people from Mixed (25%) and White (14%) ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be victims of crime than Black people (6%)

differences between other ethnic and socio-economic groups are not reliable

7. Data sources

Source

Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2020

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The main aims of the Crime Survey for England and Wales are to:

measure people's experience of crime

give reliable estimates about changes over time

The survey does not include all crimes. It excludes 'victimless' crimes (like possession of drugs) and crimes that victims cannot report (like murder).

The survey aims to give a clearer picture of the extent of crime than police statistics. It can do this by including crimes that are not reported to the police or recorded by them.

It can also provide a better indicator of long-term trends because it is not affected by changes in how crimes are reported or recorded.

8. Download the data

Victims of crime data - Spreadsheet (csv) 309 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, geography, gender, age group, socioeconomic group, household income, value, standard error, confidence intervals (upper bound, lower bound).

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Age discrimination at work remains a problem for those at both extremes of the working population, according to research by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The report, based on analysis from the Office for National Statistics's opinions survey, looked at factors associated with age discrimination and prejudice, and compared attitudes between people in their 20s and those aged over 70.

Perceptions towards those aged over 70 were more positive than towards those in their 20s, with older people viewed as being more friendly, having higher moral standards and as being more competent than their younger counterparts.

However, when respondents were asked how acceptable they would find a suitably qualified 30-year-old or 70-year-old boss, the results showed a bias towards younger workers. While most were accepting of either age, three times as many (15% and 5% respectively) thought that having a 70-year-old boss would be "unacceptable" compared with having a 30-year-old boss.

On average, respondents thought "youth" ended at 41 and "old age" began at 59. However, this varied by as much as 20 years in relation to the age of the respondent: the age at which youth stopped and old age started increased in relation to the age of the respondent.

Denise Keating, chief executive of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, said the findings showed that more needed to be done to prevent age discrimination at work.

"We have seen a very high instance of age-related unfairness, particularly when people are selected for a new job or promotion only if their 'face fits', which unfortunately means some people feel that talent isn't enough to overcome such prejudices," Keating said.

"While many companies have solid diversity policies, this may not run throughout the company, which is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is important that employers do all they can to ensure this does not lead to discrimination or favouritism of any kind, which could cause the exclusion of talented individuals from the workplace."

Just over a third of respondents said they had seen some age-related prejudice in the past year. Experiences of age discrimination were more common for younger groups, with under-25s at least twice as likely to have experienced it than other age groups.

In general terms, people in their 40s were viewed as having the highest status, while on average people aged over 70 were given a higher status than those in their 20s.

Keating urged employers to renew their commitment to building age-diverse workplaces. "We work with many companies who removed the mandatory retirement age a long time ago and have all reaped the benefits of employing a multi-age workforce," she said.

"They know that variation in the workforce brings fresh ideas and perspectives from which companies will always benefit. Ultimately, forward-looking employers know that age diverse workforces are effective, productive and motivated."

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Young and older people 'experience age discrimination at work'

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Age discrimination at work remains a problem for those at both extremes of the working population, according to research by the Department for Work and Pensions. The report, based on analysis from the Office for National Statistics's opinions survey, looked at factors associated with age discrimination and prejudice, and compared attitudes between people in their 20s and those aged over 70.

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One in three older workers 'battling ageism': Careers are blocked in favour of younger colleagues and skills dismissed by bosses, according to new research

Aviva did a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 employees aged 45-plus

Some 37% feel there is age discrimination in their workplace

More than half of workers aged 60-plus are not ready to retire

One in three workers aged 45 and over believes their employer discriminates based on age, a new survey reveals.

Bias against older staff can involve blocking their career progression, favouring younger workers, dismissing skills and experience, and overlooking them when offering training opportunities.

Some 73 per cent of workers aged in their 50s and 60s feel they can share invaluable skills, experience and knowledge with colleagues, but 16 per cent say this is not valued by their employer, according to the study by financial services firm Aviva.

The most immediate harm that age discrimination does to older staff is to lower their morale and lessen job satisfaction, but they may also be sidelined and at worst ousted.

Pay rises and therefore pension contributions might be limited in the later years of someone's career, and this can have a knock-on effect on income in retirement.

Aviva's nationwide survey of more than 2,000 employees aged 45-plus found:

* Some 37 per cent of employees feel there is age discrimination in their workplace

* Workers aged 55-59 are most likely to think they face age discrimination

* This falls to just 25 per cent of workers aged 65-plus - perhaps because they are most likely to have avoided it to date

* More than half of workers aged 60-plus are not ready to retire, rising to 61 per cent among those aged 65-plus

* Not feeling ready to retire, enjoying their job, and wanting social interaction, are among the reasons for continuing to work (see below for more on older people's attitudes to work)

Aviva also surveyed more than 1,000 employers and found 19 per cent of them were concerned about age discrimination, and around the same proportion were thinking about how they would respond to the challenge of an ageing workforce.

The insurance giant Insurer has itself already piloted a 'mid-life MOT' scheme for 100 staff which covered issues such as skills, money situation, general wellbeing, and plans for later life.

It is now rolling this out to everyone in its workforce aged 45 and over.

The Government recently launched a similar plan to encourage people aged 40 and over do a personal, financial and physical stock-take, and iit is offering a 'toolkit' to employers interested in providing such services to workers.

Self-employed people can also ask for free MOT sessions from the Government-backed Pensions Advisory Service.

There are a record 10million workers aged over 50 at present and this number is expected to rise.

Aviva says that when records were started in 1992, workers aged 50-plus accounted for 21 per cent of UK employees, and this figure has now reached 32 per cent, based on the most recent official labour market statistics.

Lindsey Rix, managing director of savings and retirement at Aviva, said: 'Age should not be a barrier to opportunity - but our findings suggest employees are worried about age discrimination. We want to challenge this concern.

'Evolving social and workplace trends mean we must all be prepared for a more fluid working life. The mid-life population offers invaluable skills and experience that companies are potentially missing out on.

'Companies needs to take action - not doing so risks a punishing labour shortage in the years to come and a huge waste of talent and potential.'

Rix adds: 'Mid-life employees offer a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise. However, often these employees can feel these valuable attributes are overlooked in favour of youth.

'Far from being on the wind-down stages of their career however, our research shows that the UK's mid-life employees remain enthusiastic and ambitious.

'For many employees that believe there is age discrimination in the workplace, much of this discrimination is seen as an absence of the same career opportunities that are offered to their younger colleagues.

'Mid-life employees' eagerness to be afforded the same level of training and progression opportunities as their younger counterparts is a testament to this generation's ambition.'

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One in three older workers face age discrimination

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Aviva did a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 employees aged 45-plus Some 37% feel there is age discrimination in their workplace More than half of workers aged 60-plus are not ready to retire One in three workers aged 45 and over believes their employer discriminates based on age, a new survey reveals.

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Prosecutions against some black and minority-ethnic suspects should be deferred or dropped to help tackle the bias against them in the criminal justice system of England and Wales, according to a highly critical report written by the Labour MP David Lammy at the request of the prime minister.

Lammy said allowances should also be made for younger defendants' immaturity and criminal records should be sealed to help former offenders find work, adding that statistics suggested discrimination was worse than in the US in some cases.

"My conclusion is that BAME individuals still face bias, including overt discrimination, in parts of the justice system," the MP says in his report. His findings provide facts that people from minority ethnic backgrounds have argued for decades.

The MP highlighted the fact that there was "greater disproportionality" in the number of black people in prisons in England and Wales than in the US. Black people make up 3% of population in England and Wales and 12% of the prison population, compared with 13% and 35% respectively, in the US.

His report concludes there is overt racial prejudice in the criminal justice system, although it is declining. But problems of covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent instead.

Lammy says overt discrimination is declining, but covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

As an example, Lammy said that when the word "gang" was used rather than "group" in discussions about crime, "it can be used to signal ethnicity rather than to describe the links between a group of suspects".

The review was commissioned in January 2016 by David Cameron, the then prime minister, and has been supported by his successor, Theresa May. It attempts to disentangle the broader effects of discrimination and disadvantage in society from the procedures of police, courts, prisons and the probation service.

Deferred prosecutions, permitting suspects to enter rehabilitation programmes without having to admit guilt, have been piloted successfully in New Zealand, California and the West Midlands, the report says. People completing programmes have their charges dropped, but those who do not go on to face criminal proceedings. Such schemes, Lammy said, should be extended to tackle racism in the system in England and Wales.

Violent offenders who have gone through the West Midlands programme, Operation Turning Point, are 35% less likely to reoffend than those who went through the normal criminal justice channels. Victims were also more satisfied and costs were lower than traditional prosecutions, the report states. The scheme should be rolled out across England and Wales for adult and young offenders, Lammy recommends.

Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers, according to Ministry of Justice analysis picked up by Lammy. The BAME proportion of youth prisoners rose from 25% in 2006 to 41% last year.

If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison. The costs to the taxpayer of such disproportionate outcomes, the report claims, is more than £300m a year.

A symptom of the bias problem, the MP said, was the mistrust shown by BAME defendants. "They see the system in terms of 'them and us' ," Lammy said. "Many do not trust the promises made to them by their own solicitors, let alone officers in a police station warning them to admit guilt. What begins as a 'no comment' interview can quickly become a crown court trial."

Between 2006 and 2014, 41% of black defendants pleaded not guilty in crown courts compared with 31% of white defendants. Consequently, black defendants lose the opportunity of reduced sentences through early guilty pleas and distrust in the system is reinforced.

Opening up judges' rulings to wider scrutiny would help demonstrate fairness, Lammy urged. Encouraging the criminal justice system to work more closely with local communities would also increase public acceptance.

The report says the deferred prosecution scheme should be offered regardless of race to all those facing charges who meet the criteria, namely that they are not hardened offenders. Lammy believes it would help cut the race gap and help divert people from a life of offending.

Lammy said England and Wales should adopt Germany's approach to assessing the maturity of younger offenders. Rather than an "inflexible" boundary, at the age of 18, between youth and adult courts in England and Wales, the German system allows for less punitive juvenile law to be applied to young adults if the "moral and psychological development" of the defendant suggests he or she is immature or "like a juvenile".

Such a method reflects the latest scientific evidence on brain development, Lammy said. Assessments of maturity should be developed and used for defendants up until 21. Since there is a high proportion of BAME individuals among young adult prisoners, their introduction would help significantly. Most young people grow out of crime, the report says. Selling drugs as a teenager could prevent an individual becoming a plumber or licensed taxi driver well into their thirties.

Lammy supports a system used in Massachusetts where offenders who can demonstrate they have reformed and are no longer a threat can petition to have their criminal records expunged so that they do not need to disclose them on job applications. Their criminal records would be "sealed" so that judges would still have access in case of reoffending.

The report calls for an "ethnically representative judiciary and magistracy" by the year 2025. While 14% of the general population are from BAME backgrounds, the proportion within the police and prison service is 6%. It is 7% in the judiciary, 11% among magistrates and 19% in the Crown Prosecution Service.

David Lidington, the justice secretary, thanked Lammy for a "detailed and incisive review". He said ministers would look at his findings and respond in due course, adding that the government would committed to publishing public sector race audits next month. These would allow "the clearest understanding to date of how someone's ethnicity can impact their day to day life", Lidington said.

Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, said she would consider Lammy's recommendations.

"The review calls on all parts of the criminal justice system to be more open to external scrutiny, have rigorous internal oversight, and to develop a diverse workforce as we have done and will continue to do," she said.

This article was amended on 11 September 2017 to make clear that the report refers only to the justice system in England and Wales.

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Exposed: 'racial bias' in England and Wales criminal justice system

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Prosecutions against some black and minority-ethnic suspects should be deferred or dropped to help tackle the bias against them in the criminal justice system of England and Wales, according to a highly critical report written by the Labour MP David Lammy at the request of the prime minister.

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Disabled people ‘left behind in society’, report finds

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Progress towards equality has been “littered with missed opportunities”, a report says.