Kenyan graduate living in the UK experiences the pangs of ethnic discrimination in the job market

19 January 2014: The Voice

ETHNIC MINORITY jobseekers are “twice as likely to be unemployed” than white jobseekers, new figures show.
In the 12 months leading to September 2013, the unemployment rate for black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities was 12 per cent, twice the rate of white jobseekers, according to latest statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The DWP statistics also showed the unemployment rate for black jobseekers was 17 per cent and 15 per cent for mixed race people.
This, while the overall unemployment in the UK fell by 99,000 to 2.39 million – the lowest level since 2009, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS).

STRUGGLING
Kenyan-born Joan Kiamani*, 25, has been struggling to get a job for the past six months.
The economic graduate aspires to be an accountant, but has found it difficult to get a first job in the field because she achieved a lower second class honours degree, or 2:2.
Stewart told The Voice: “It’s a shock to me first of all because I have a degree, and thought it would be easy to get job after graduating.”
However, she has since found that “I have to work so hard, twice as hard, to get a particular job because of my race,” Stewart said.
To improve her situation, the frustrated young graduate decided to improve her job prospects by pursuing further qualifications.
She said: “I am thinking of going abroad or back home to see what’s there or somewhere that will appreciate the qualifications that I already have, but I’m still in two minds.
“I can’t afford to limit myself so it’s really stressful. I am also thinking of starting my own business, but since I’m still paying off my student debts, I don’t want to take out another loan.”
In response to DWP’s latest statistics, the national trade s union federation in the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is strongly urging the government to start devising unemployment initiatives.
Sandra Kerr, national campaign director for the charity Race for Opportunity, said: “The rise in unemployment levels for people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds is a significant cause for concern, particularly the sharp increase in unemployment amongst BAME 16 to 24-year-olds.
“Race for Opportunity wants to see UK workplaces that reflect the UK ethnic minority talent pool, which is why we are continuing to work closely with employers across a range of sectors to support them in increasing the number of BAME employees at all levels.”

SUICIDAL
With more than 900,000 young people in Britain aged 16 to 24 registered as unemployed, a recent YouGov poll for the Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index found that 40 per cent of jobless young people have experienced suicidal thoughts, feelings of self-loathing or panic attacks due to their unemployment.
The long-term unemployed in particular (those who have been out of a job for more than six months) felt more pessimistic about their prospects, and are twice as likely to be prescribed anti-depressants, the poll revealed.
Paul Brown, the Prince’s Trust director, said: “We need to recognise that unemployment doesn’t just lead to economic disadvantage for young people but can scar them.”
*Not her real name*