Ethnic Diversity in Britain

Areas towards the south coast, on the other hand, have been less affected by this trend, although there are exceptions - the port city of Southampton has historically had large migrant communities, particularly from south Asia. The whole population: 8,000,645. [5]

Table 1.12 Ethnic groups in South East England

Education has played a part in the growth of non-White British populations. Some of the greatest recent increases have been in places like Oxford, where the university regards fee-paying foreign students as the key to its future. Oxford, in fact, has some of the highest proportions of residents from the White Other, Chinese and Other ethnic groups of anywhere in England.

London aside, Slough can claim to be the most diverse place in England. If you were to pick any two people at random from its population of 120,000, there would be a 62 per cent chance that they would be from different ethnic backgrounds.

The largest ethnic minority group in the South East is White Other. Together with the South West, this region is one of only two in England where this group is more numerous than the Asian or Black groups. More than 221,000 people indicated this as their ethnic origin in the 2001 census. As mentioned above, this is likely to be due to a number of reasons, including employment and education.

Asian people form the second most populous ethnic minority group: over 185,000 people, or 2.3% of the population. Slough alone is home to more than 33,000 people from this group. There are roughly a third more Indians than Pakistanis throughout the region as a whole, and only in a few places - such as Reading - does the population of the latter exceed that of the former. Black people live in far fewer numbers in the South East compared to the two groups above; there are three times more Asians, and nearly four times more White residents than the 57,000 black people living here. Reading and Slough each account for about 10 per cent of this number, but the typical proportion elsewhere is between 0.5 and one percent - four times less than the national average. [6]

1.5.9 Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and The Humber ranks fifth of the nine English regions in terms of its proportion of ethnic minority residents. About one in 12 people living in the region are from ethnic groups other than White British.

Out of every 1,000 people, on average: 916 are White British; 45 are Asian; 18 are White non-British; 9 people are of mixed race; 7 people are Black; 2 people are Chinese.

In 2001, 4.7% of people living in the Yorkshire and The Humber were born abroad, up from 3.7% in 1991. According to the 2001 census, the Yorkshire and The Humber region has a total population of 5.1 million. It is the fifth largest of England's nine regions, covering an area of 15,420 square kilometers, and has a population density of 328 people per square kilometer.

Although there are many large cities and towns in the region, large areas of Yorkshire and The Humber are very rural. This means that the degree of ethnic diversity varies considerably throughout the region, with the vast majority of people from ethnic minority groups concentrated in urban areas. For example, while the three major cities of Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford account for just a third of the region's total population, they are home to 65% of all Asians and 70% of all black people.

There are almost as many Asian people - 222,000 - living in this region than all other ethnic minority groups combined. This figure represents 4.5% of the total population. Only London (12%) and the West Midlands (7.3%) have a greater proportion of Asian residents, although both have far larger Asian populations in numerical terms. The whole population: 4,964,833. [5]

Table 1.13 Ethnic groups in Yorkshire and the Humber

One district of the city, Frizinghall, is home to the highest concentration of Pakistanis in England; here, this group makes up 73% of the local population.

Yorkshire and The Humber is one of only three English regions with more Pakistani residents than Indian ones, and the ratio here - nearly three to one - is far greater than in the North West and the North East. The main reason for this is the remarkably large Pakistani population in Bradford; nearly 68,000 - almost half of all people from this group living in the entire region - live here, where they make up one in seven of all residents. This is the highest proportion of Pakistanis in the total population of any city in Europe. Across the entire region, there are nearly 150,000 people of Pakistani descent. The proportions of non-Asian ethnic minority groups in the region are quite small. People from the White Other group make up the second most populous ethnic minority, but form just 1.2% of the population; this is the third lowest proportion among the nine English regions. The proportion of Chinese residents is the joint lowest in England, at just a quarter of one percent of all residents.

Black people make up the third largest ethnic minority group in Yorkshire and The Humber. Proportionally, the Black groups make up 0.7% of the population; this is lower than all but three of the other eight English regions. Out of a total of 34,000 black people in the region, two-thirds are of Caribbean origin. Nearly a third of all black people in the region live in Sheffield, where they form nearly 2% of the local population. Leeds also has a sizeable black population, about 1.5%, but elsewhere numbers are very small - Barnsley, for example, has just 164 black residents out of a total population of 220,000. [6]

In this it is showed Britain multi-racial country with mixed population. This fact creates a number of questions. For instance, how can the problem of a multi-racial society be solved? The number of people asking to settle in Britain is rising. The ethnic minority communities in Britain are about 5,7 per cent of the total population but are likely to rise to about 7 per cent in the early years of the 21st century, because of their higher birth rate. Black immigrants first started coming to Britain in great numbers from 1948 onwards, in response to labour shortages. The minorities are concentrated in the cities. There are already several thousand non-white Britons, mainly in ports like Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. Some families date back to the eighteenth century and slave trading.

2. Ethnic Minority Communities

Diversity is a word that conjures up images of policy, political correctness and, to some, positive discrimination. But the reality is that with 7.9% of the total UK population being from ethnic minority communities, the advertising industry is certainly not representative of this, in terms of employment, representation in creative or in its targeting of these communities for their clients.

The 2001 Census breaks down the numbers and provides basic statistical information, showing that the ethnic minority communities have grown by over 50% since the last Census in 1991, whereas the 'White' community has seen a drop in numbers. The largest community is that classified as South Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi), followed by the 'Black' (Caribbean and African) communities.

Economically, the ethnic minority communities, especially the Asian community is acknowledged as being inspirational, hard working and economically powerful. The younger generations (second and third generation) are brand conscious, technologically savvy and proud of their culture. The communities have a younger age profile, with over 50% of the South Asian community being under the age of 40. This alone represents a strong consumer base, if targeted appropriately and through the right media and supporting vehicles.

Although little solid research exists on the Black and Asian communities and their economic drivers, some key facts are available: 72% of the UK South Asian community live in pay TV homes compared to only 39% of the population as a whole; 74% of South Asians have a mobile phone compared to 69% of the total UK population; 70% own a pc (vs. 50% of UK population); 57% have access to the internet at home (The whole population vs. 47% of UK adult population); 46% own a DVD player (vs. 30% of UK population). [3]

2.1 Population Size

The results of the 2001 Home Office Census were released in February 2003, and put the ethnic community population size at 7.9% of the total UK population or 4,694,681 people out of a total population of 58,84,8579.

The 2001 Census saw the introduction of a new category of 'Mixed' which accounts for those children of mixed inter-racial marriages or partnerships: White and Black Caribbean; White and Black African; White and Asian; Other mixed backgrounds; All Mixed groups.

The remaining ethnic minority groups each accounted for less than 0.5%, but together accounted for a further 1.4% of the UK population.

Analyzing the changes since the last census in 1991, the 10-year period has seen an overall drop in the White population, with the largest growth in the Black African (+0.42%), Pakistani (+4%) and Indian (+0.3%) communities.

The Mixed group is a new category and may account for a small percentage drop in the White, Black Other and Black Caribbean numbers, since the majority of the 'mixed ethnicity' group are White and Black Caribbean (237,000 people). [9]

2.2 Age Distribution

The UK's ethnic minority groups have a much younger age structure than the White population, which is a clear reflection of migration and fertility patterns.

The 2001/2002 Annual Local Labour Force Survey showed that the Mixed Ethnicity group had the youngest age structure, with more than half (55%) being under the age of 16.

The Bangladeshi group also has a younger age structure compared to the other 'Asian' communities, with 38% being aged under 16. This is double the proportion of the White group, where only 19% are under the age of 16.

With regards to the ageing population, the statistics show that the White community has the highest proportion of people aged 65 and over, at 16%, with the Black Caribbean community coming next, with 9% of the group being aged 65 and over.

The impact of the younger age structure in ethnic minority communities is, as stated previously, a reflection of the migration patterns of the communities: the first large-scale migration of people of ethnic minority origin came from the Caribbean shortly after the Second World War and during the 1950s, immigrants from India and Pakistan arrived in the 1960s, many people of African-Asian descent came to the UK as refugees from Uganda and Kenya in the 70s, most Chinese and Bangladeshis came to Britain during the 1980s, many of the Black African communities came during the 1980s and 90s.

The Asian ethnic minority communities, and to a certain extent the Caribbean communities, mainly came as newly-weds, leaving partners and any children behind, to settle and establish themselves before bringing families into the country. [9]

The ethnic minority communities discussed in this document are represented by four generations in the UK:

1st generation - immigrants who settled in the UK in the 50s and 60s

2nd generation - the 'thirty-somethings', some of whom were born in the subcontinent, those under 35 born in the UK in the late 60s and 70s

3rd generation - majority born in the UK in the 70s and 80s

4th generation - predominantly children of second generation Asians [3]

2.3 Households

Anecdotally, many second and third generation Asians will talk about the 'family' unit, and its impact on any decisions they make with regards to marriage, employment and general economic activity.

Historically the Asian community is known for larger households, with younger generations living at home for longer, and with many communities even maintaining the family home and care of the first generation after marriage.

These cultural factors, along with the tendency of the first generation to have larger families, are shown in the analysis of household size:

Asian households tend to be larger than those from other ethnic groups.

In spring 2002 Bangladeshi households were the largest with an average of 4.7 people, Pakistani households had an average of 4.2 people, Indian households had 3.3 people, these households may contain up to three generations with grandparents living with a married couple and their children. Black Caribbean and Other Black households are generally the same size as White households with an average of 2.3 people living together. The South Asian community in the UK is in fact a diverse community comprising several key communities from the Indian subcontinent. They can be differentiated by several factors, including country of origin, language and religion. [9]

2.4 Varieties of Communities

2.4.1 The Indian Community

Migration from Indian subcontinent peaked in the late 1960s and early 70s. Indian people came mainly from Punjab (mainly Sikhs) and Gujarat (mainly Hindus), from a variety of origins, some from farming backgrounds with little formal education, others from towns and cities with vocational or degree level qualifications. There was considerable group of people who first migrated from the Indian subcontinent to East Africa (Kenya and Uganda), then came from Africa to Britain in the early 1970s (often referred to as African Asians). Those from the Indian subcontinent, including the community of East African Asians that migrated from India to Kenya and Uganda and subsequently to the UK can also be identified by religion - Hindu, Sikh, Indian Muslim (also Jain, Buddhist and Christian) languages spoken vary widely, but can be broken down by region of origin into the following main ones: Hindi is the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent and is also the language of the film industry (Bollywood). Mainly North Indians including Hindu-Punjabis Punjabi stems from the state of Punjabis spoken predominantly by the Punjabi Sikh community. Has a different written script to Hindi, but Hindi and Punjabi speakers communicate well with each other, as there are many common words and phrases Gujarati stems from the state of Gujarat. Gujaratis are mainly Hindu (quite a few Jain) and more traditional and orthodox than their Punjabi counterparts. Again, the written script is different and there are also less verbal bonds than between Hindi and Punjabi speakers. The majority of east African Asians now in the UK are originally from Gujarat and may also speak Swahili there is a raft of other languages spoken in India, including: Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Multani and Sindhi. [10]

2.4.2 The Pakistani Community

Pakistani people came mainly from rural areas in Azad Kashmir and Mirpur. First generation is far more of a homogenous population than Indian migrants. Typically holding few formal qualifications many Pakistani people in Britain worked in mills and factories when they first arrived and the community has been seriously affected by the decline of manufacturing industry, in these areas most Pakistanis are Muslim. Those from the country now classified as Pakistan. Pakistan was originally part of the whole of the Indian subcontinent until 1947, when at the end of the British Raj, the country was divided into India and Pakistan with separate governments. A key reason for the partition was separation by religion - Muslims were moved from wherever they lived in India to Pakistan and all Hindus and Sikhs who were resident in the new Pakistan moved to the country then known as India. The 'partition' as it is known has been a constant reason for community segregation within the UK. Over the last 40 years the Pakistani communities speak Urdu (including a dialect called Mirpuri) as well as Punjab the state of Punjab was divided during the partition, and as a result there are Pakistani Muslims, who speak Punjabi. The Pakistani community is the most religious and orthodox of the Islamic communities, following the laws of the Koran very strictly (although there are always exceptions to the rule). [10]

2.4.3 The Bangladeshi Community

Bangladeshi migration was slightly different from Indian or Pakistani migration. Many Bangladeshi men came to Britain in the mid-60s and waited much longer to bring families to Britain. The result is that some older men have been in Britain for 20 or 30 years, while their families may have arrived relatively recently, with the peak phase of migration in the 1980s. Most Bangladeshi people in Britain come from rural area of Sylhet in North East Bangladesh, their family backgrounds were, and still are, in landholding or farming like the Pakistani population, they were less likely to have formal educational qualifications than Indian people most are Muslim. Bangladesh was formed from a region that was originally classified as East Pakistan in 1971 according to the 2001 census, the majority of the Bangladeshi population within the UK, resides in London. Approximately three quarters of the population live in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, with smaller communities in areas like Camden, Newham and Westminster most Bangladeshis who reside in these areas are from the Sylhet district of Bangladesh and have strong links back home. They are thus a very close-knit community with strong internal communication networks the Sylheti community has a distinctive dialect, which gives them a strong cultural identity. Traditionally their core values centre around the family, community and business. [10]

2.4.4 South Asian Community

In order to develop a full understanding of the UK's Asian community, a degree of time needs to be spent looking at the historical background to the communities and their ethnic origins. There have been people from ethnic minority groups living in Britain throughout history, and therefore the idea of Britain as a multicultural country is not new. However, the main period of migration for the Asian community has occurred since the Second World War, and the patterns of migration strongly influence their current positions. The UK's Black community is again an aggregation of different communities originating from the Caribbean and Africa. Both communities have differing characteristics, aspirations and historical drivers. [10]

2.4.5 The Black Caribbean Community

Those from the Caribbean islands of: Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Barbados, Trinidad. One of the major significant factors for the history of Caribbean settlement was Britain's active recruitment of labor to help the war effort: 8,000 men were recruited to serve in the RAF, foresters were recruited from British Honduras to work in Scottish forests, workers were recruited to work in the munitions industry. However, the post war movement from the former British West Indies to Britain is most often linked to the arrival of 417 Jamaicans on the 'Empire Windrush' in 1948 or to the arrival of 100 Jamaicans on the 'Ormonde' a year earlier. By the time of the 1951 Census there were about 17,000 persons born in the Caribbean living in Britain, the movement to Britain acted as a 'replacement population' filling gaps left by the upward mobility of the White population. Migration sustained significant parts of the service industries in Britain, including The NHS and the transport system. The language is not an issue as with the Asian community, with English being the main language across all the communities, religion - Christianity, Jehovah's Witnesses, Rastafarians - not a huge dividing force amongst the groups - again unlike the Asian community where religion is a strong divider. The Black Caribbean community is probably seen as the community that in one way is most integrated into the UK - through its acceptance and success in music, sports, entertainment, media and business. Black Caribbean women are seen to be more successful and have higher rates of self-employment that many other ethnic minority groups. These are an emerging new middle class that has a strong community network, strong Christian principles and are committed to improving education, employment and achievement within their community. However, the social and economic issues that exist within the Black Caribbean community have led to a broadening gap between the community and the 'establishment': the Black Caribbean community have higher levels of unemployment as a whole, 54% of Black Caribbean families are lone parent families, where Black Caribbean women have similar employment rates to White women (72%), young Black Caribbean men have very high unemployment rates. [10]

2.4.6 The Black African Community

Black Africans have a long history of residence in the UK, well before the more recent period of large-scale immigration in the 1960s. The history of their migration differs significantly from those immigrants who were recruited directly for employment. Well-established African communities existed in the seaports of Liverpool, London and Cardiff as far back as the 1940s. Since the post-independence period of the 1960s there has been a marked increase in the number of Africans traveling to the UK for higher education and technical training. The wealth and prestige associated with studying abroad has been one of the key drivers for the African community's migration to the UK - they are 'students who stayed'. Back in 1991, Black Africans were the most qualified ethnic minority group in Britain, with over 26% of the population over 18 years of age possessing higher qualifications. Traditionally there were quite clear career aspirations and targets for the Black African communities. The principal fields of qualification were: management studies, nursing, sociology, education, clinical medicine, engineering, accountancy and law. Within this, there are also clear gender differences, with women outnumbering men in nursing and education. With 53 potential countries of origin, and varied social backgrounds, the Black African population is characterized by diversity, both internally and in comparison with other ethnic groups. The current UK population of Black Africans are largely from: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Somalia. Language is a differentiator amongst the communities, with each country of origin having its own mother tongue. However, the social structures of the communities that migrated to the U.K. and the strong educational influences that have played a part in the migration have meant that English is now the dominant language amongst the communities. The two main religions practiced by the African communities in the UK are Christianity and Islam. Both have very strong links into the communities and are a reflection of the cultural traditions that bind the groups together. [7]

This chapter includes information about the communities of ethnicity. From that it is seen what great impact ethnic minority communities have on the country. The food the British eat, the music they listen to, the clothes they wear and how they relax have all been influenced by the widely diverse range of cultures which make up Britain. The quality and breadth of the arts and popular culture have been enriched through the contribution of individuals from many backgrounds and traditions. British music, cinema and television, theatre and literature all owe a debt to the creative and talented input from the many people who have come to settle here over the years.

Non British born Black, Asian and other minority ethnic individuals and communities are also making their mark on the new face of Britain as a centre of style, fashion and pioneering ideas in culture and the arts. Londoners speak over 300 languages other than English. Widely spoken languages include Punjabi (spoken by 52% of British Asians), Urdu (32%), Hindi (27%), Gujarati (25%), Bengali, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. Many European languages, such as Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek are also spoken. These languages are thriving through newspapers and other print media, broadcasting, theatre and the arts.

Britain's urban youth culture influences youth across the world. This culture owes much to the ethnic diversity of Britain's young people, which they can draw on and fuse together, resulting in a unique crossover of ethnic and cultural influences. Youth culture is an important influence on the arts and culture, at home and abroad. The clothes on London's streets appear on Paris catwalks; the sounds young people create in dance clubs and warehouse parties end up on the music charts.

The impact of ethnic minorities is also noticeable in the sheer variety of ethnic foods available in Britain today. Ethnic food is now a part of the everyday British diet, whether it's eating at home or eating out. [4]

3. Today's Population in the UK

3.1 Migration Waves

Migration has become a widely spread problem in the whole UK. Millions of people come there to earn money or even to settle there. From the beginning of the 15^th century until the 20^th the balance of emigration was markedly outward due to colonial expansions. During the 19^th century over 20 mln people left Britain for destinations outside Europe, mainly in the Commonwealth and the United states.

But since 1930s the balance of Migration for Britain was inward. Many emigrants began to return. The dismantling of the Empire has been a gradual process accompanied by the great inflow of people to Britain. Right up until 1962 the citizens of the huge area of the former Empire had the automatic right to live and work in Britain. [8 p. 84-85]

Many Irish people came to England in 1845 to escape famine, to find work. Most of the roads, railways and canals built in the 19th century, were made by Irish workers. The greatest wave of immigration was in the 1950s and 1960s. Many companies needed people for unskilled or semi-skilled jobs. Britain advertised and many people came from the Caribbean islands, from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Hong Kong. People came here in search of better life, political or religious freedom. British government and people regarded this as a threat to the health of the nation: it increased unemployment, worsened living conditions. It was in these circumstances that the Government introduced the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 which gave it power to restrict the number of people from the Commonwealth, especially from the Irish Republic. Another Act was passed in 1968 and still another in 1971. The last has sharply reduced the number of people allowed to stay in Britain. [9 p. 72]

Traditionally Britain gave a lot of emigrants to the rest of the world. During the period from 1836 till 1936 about 11 million people left the British Isles. This mass emigration especially in the 19th century was a movement of ruined peasants, and the unemployed. The people hoped to find new opportunities and happiness on new territories. The migrants went mainly to North America (the USA, Canada), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, to other lands in Asia and Africa. They settled there, spreading the economic, political and cultural influence of Great Britain, as well as the English language, which became the state language of many countries.

Mass emigration from Great Britain stopped during and after World War I, when many countries had to limit immigration. After the 1950s and in the 1960s many people entered Britain especially from the West Indies, Asia and Africa and settled permanently in the country. They made an important contribution to the development of the economy and the public services. British monopolies took great profits from the exploitation of cheap migrant labour. Today there are also groups of Americans, Australians, Chinese and various European communities living in Britain. In the last generation British society has therefore become more multiracial as people from almost all parts of the world have made a permanent home in the country.

Table 3.1. Timeline: Immigration to Britain

3.2 Overpopulation

Great Britain as a whole is a densely populated country; but like all countries it contains areas of very sparse population. Britain has not solved the problem of a multi-racial society. The number of people asking to settle in Britain is rising. With every wave of migration the population is being increased. It causes the problem of overpopulation, which brings to the country a number of difficulties Overcrowding is, however, by no means the only serious feature of the present housing situation.

In mid-2005 the UK was home to 60.2 million people, of which 50.4 million lived in England. 2005 UK population grows to more than 60m. The average age was 38.8 years, an increase on 1971 when it was 34.1 years. In mid-2005 approximately one in five people in the UK were aged under 16 and one in six people were aged 65 or over. The UK has a growing population. It grew by 375,100 people in the year to mid-2005 (0.6 per cent). The UK population increased by 7.7 per cent since 1971, from 55.9 million. Growth has been faster in more recent years. Between mid-1991 and mid-2004 the population grew by an annual rate of 0.3 per cent and the average growth per year since mid-2001 has been 0.5 per cent.

The average age of the population has been estimated using the median value. The median is the mid-point age that separates the younger half of the population from the older half. Mid-2005 population estimates are available at national level by single year of age and sex and subnationally (local authority health area) by five year age group and sex. These include additional selected age groups and broad components of population change along with a methodological guide explaining how the mid-2005 population estimates were produced. For England and Wales at a subnational level, they reflect the local authority administrative boundaries that were in place on 1 April 2005. For Scotland they reflect the council area boundaries that were in place on 29 April 2001. For Northern Ireland at a subnational level, current Local Government District boundaries were set following the 1992 Boundary Commission review which was published in 1993. The estimated resident population of an area includes all people who usually live there, whatever their nationality. Members of UK and non-UK armed forces stationed in the UK are included in their respective Countries and UK forces stationed outside the UK are excluded. Students are taken to be resident at their term time address. The methodology used to update mid-year estimates includes an estimate of the population change due to flows of International migrants. These flows are based on estimates of long-term International migrants (where stays of over twelve months only are counted) therefore this does not include flows of short-term International migrants. Methods and sources used by Scotland and Northern Ireland vary slightly to England and Wales. [12 p. 27-29]

3.3 Relations among Nations

Recognition of ethnic diversity is a feature of British policy abroad as well as at home. There can be no place for racism in world affairs. British policy in Europe, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations, and in bi-lateral relations with individual countries is to promote harmony between ethnic groups. Racism is not acceptable and should play no part in international relations in the 21st century.

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was set up under the 1976 Act. Its duties are: to work towards the elimination of racial discrimination; to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations between persons of different racial groups generally; to keep the working of the Act under review. The CRE has powers under race relations legislation to issue Codes of Practice, to carry out formal investigations, and to issue non-discrimination notices after findings of unlawful racial discrimination. The CRE has conducted over 100 such investigations, resulting in significant changes in employment practices of housing allocation policy. The CRE also has a duty to consider requests for assistance from members of the public who wish to bring legal cases alleging unlawful racial discrimination. If the CRE considers the complaint to be within the scope of the Act it can provide investigative, expert and legal representation at no cost to the individual. Cases are taken to employment tribunals, the employment law courts, or to the civil law courts, where a judge sits without a jury for all non-employment cases. This casework is then followed up by the CRE with relevant good practice publications.

While the CRE takes the lead at national level, Racial Equality Councils are on hand locally to assist in cases of discrimination and to promote race equality. There are 98 Racial Equality Councils funded by the CRE and local authorities.

In Northern Ireland, equivalent responsibilities for tackling discrimination and promoting racial equality rest with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which also covers other grounds of unlawful discrimination.

Much of the CRE's work is educational, advisory and campaigning, encouraging organizations to change their practices and behavior to develop racial equality. The CRE's race equality standards for education, employment, local government, and services for young people aim to help organizations measure their progress towards race equality. [6]

Social Exclusion Unit. The Social Exclusion Unit was set up by the government in December 1997 to coordinate and improve government action to reduce social exclusion. Race is a specific remit of the Unit, which is working to ensure that no groups are excluded from government policy and practice. The work of the SEU forms part of the government's strategic approach to tackling social exclusion including all Whitehall departments and many external partners. Tackling social exclusion has been a priority in budgets and spending reviews, with investment in opportunity a priority for the resources released through better control of public finances. The government has committed itself to annual reporting on its anti-poverty strategy in Opportunity for All. The SEU's work has led to a change in the way social exclusion is understood within government and more widely. [9]

For centuries people from overseas have settled in the UK, either to escape political or religious persecution or in search of better economic opportunities. As a result, the UK has a significant multicultural population. [16 p. 51]

The Labor Force Survey estimated that over the period 2001-02, around 4.5 million people in Great Britain (8%) described themselves as belonging to an ethnic group other than 'White'. In general, minority ethnic groups tend to have a younger age profile than the White population, reflecting past immigration and fertility patterns. [18]

Britain has always been a multi-racial society. What is new is the visibility of its racial diversity. And what is newer still is a willingness to accept that all the races can have parity of esteem. For a long time even when it was acknowledged that there were people of different racial origin within the British Isles, there was an assumption that the white race and culture was, and should, be dominant.

Racial stereotyping echoes through British literature and culture almost to the present day. And for some time, assumptions of racial inferiority colored mainstream British perception of non-white culture and art.

But multi-racialism is a tricky balance to achieve. On the one hand, there has to be a measure of economic equality and genuine parity of esteem. But on the other, it should not mean obliterating differences or pretending differences do not exist. Britain would be the poorer without its different races and their different cultural traditions. But it would also be a mistake to try and iron out these differences in the name of multi-racialism. [19 p. 52]

Conclusion

The found information shows that British society is one of the most multi-racial and ethnically diversed in the world. Also it is clear from the research that culture of the communities greatly contributes in British social life. But it is also seen that Britain is very popular among the people who prefer to leave their country in searches for better and easier life. It is also clear that the government appreciated the flow of immigrants in the past years, but now Britain is faced with such problem as overpopulation. Great amount of people come to Britain to find a job and send the money to the family.

The data goes back far enough, so that it could be said that everyone who lives in Britain today has origins somewhere else. Many of them can probably trace the immigrants in their own family histories. Some may have been among the various invading armies - Roman, Saxon, Viking or Norman. Others had little choice about coming: Africans were brought to Britain by force in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as slaves or servants; and thousands of people arrived at various times as refugees from France, Ireland, Russia, and other countries, escaping from persecution or famine in their own countries.

The overwhelming majority of minority ethnic Britons live in cities, with 45% living in Greater London alone. These include Afro-Caribbeans, African Asians, South Asians (Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi) and Chinese. The other regions where minority ethnic Britons tend to live are the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and North West England. In Scotland, minority ethnic people make up only 1.25% of the population. The largest groups there are Pakistani, Chinese and Indian, living mainly in Glasgow, where they make up 3.2% of the population.

Although most of Britain's minority ethnic population live in the main urban areas, they tend to live alongside the majority ethnic community rather than in segregated «ghettos». These main urban areas have greater disadvantage, with higher rates of unemployment, lower household incomes, more overcrowding and poorer housing conditions. Over half of Britain's minority ethnic population, 56%, live in the 44 most deprived local authority districts.

The importance of collecting facts about ethnic minority groups and measuring progress towards equality is now widely recognized. Most major public bodies and increasing numbers of employers and service providers - from government departments to football clubs - now include ethnic monitoring as part of their equal opportunities policies to measure ethnic minority inclusion and participation in the socio-economic and cultural life of Britain. Traditionally Britain gave a lot of emigrants to the rest of the world. During the period from 1836 till 1936 about 11 million people left the British Isles. This mass emigration especially in the 19th century was a movement of ruined peasants, and the unemployed. The people hoped to find new opportunities and happiness on new territories. The migrants went mainly to North America (the USA, Canada), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, to other lands in Asia and Africa. They settled there, spreading the economic, political and cultural influence of Great Britain, as well as the English language, which became the state language of many countries.

Mass emigration from Great Britain stopped during and after World War I, when many countries had to limit immigration. After the 1950s and in the 1960s many people entered Britain especially from the West Indies, Asia and Africa and settled permanently in the country. They made an important contribution to the development of the economy and the public services. British monopolies took great profits from the exploitation of cheap migrant labour.

Today there are also groups of Americans, Australians, Chinese and various European communities living in Britain. In the last generation British society has therefore become more multiracial as people from almost all parts of the world have made a permanent home in the country. Racial discrimination and poor living conditions have contributed to racial violence, especially in the day-to-day form of relations between young blacks and police, or in the more extreme form of inner-city riots.

Reporting on the Brixton riots of 1981, Lord Scarman wrote, «We must create a black British middle class… black and brown as well as white faces must be seen not only on the production line but also in positions of authority and influence at all levels of society*. But the problem is still vital.

The creed of racial superiority was very much part and parcel of the culture of the empire. The British Empire was built on a theory of racial inferiority. It was the alleged superiority of the non-white races that supposedly legitimized taking over their countries and subordinating them to second class status.

To have a genuinely multi-racial society there needs to be genuine economic equality between the races. It's unbelievable that one can talk about a multi-racial Britain or anywhere else unless there is a measure of economic empowerment for all groups within Society. This means making sure that there is genuine equality of opportunity in education for all races. And that the barriers for black and ethnic minority advancement in business and in the profession are taken down. But economic empowerment for minorities is a necessary precondition but not sufficient to bring about a genuinely multi-racial society. Because nationhood and society is as much about ideas as anything else, the role of culture, literature, philosophy and the arts in building a multi-racial society is key. The first step is that the influence of black and ethnic minorities in the culture of a country like Britain is properly acknowledged.

There is no doubt that the presence of ethnic minorities in Britain and much more foreign travel have transformed the British diet for the better. Noticeably fish and chips have been overtaken by curry as the most popular British takeaway. For many years, Britons have got used to seeing black athletes representing them internationally. We are also seeing an unprecedented level of intermarriage between the races. It is noticeably more common to see mixed race couples in Britain than in the U.S., which has had a larger black population for longer.

So multi-racialism is easy to talk about but hard to achieve. Yet as we have approached the end of a millennium, Britain is a more open, more multi-racial society than ever before, multi-racial society where different races and cultural influences are beginning to be positively acknowledged and given equal respect. British society has come some way but there is still further to go. The indication of Britain's becoming a genuinely multi-racial society is when the skin color of a British MP is no more significant than the color of their eyes.

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