BLACK PEOPLE are falling the fastest below the poverty line amid the UK’s cost of living crisis, a report has found. 

The Runnymede Trust reports that black and minority ethnic people are 2.5 times more likely to be in relative poverty, and 2.2 times more likely to be in deep poverty with an income that plummets more than 50% below the poverty line in comparison to their white counterparts. 

Racial inequalities amid the crisis are most pronounced for communities living in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Yorkshire and the Humber area. 

Since the financial crisis of 2007-08, the report shows that closing the economic gap between white and diverse communities has not progressed and has been excanbered since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic further unearthed structural inequalities in housing, employment and healthcare for Britain’s ethnic minority groups. 

Dr Halima Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, called for more support for already vulnerable communities made worse off post-Covid.

“The growing rates of poverty outlined in our briefing, in the world’s fifth largest economy, are simply unconscionable. We talk about this cost-of-living crisis in universal terms. No one is immune from the consequences. However, what’s clear from this research is that some groups are less equal and more impacted than others, including our black and minority communities,” she said. 

“The pandemic made abundantly clear that when a crisis hits, support needs to be targeted urgently towards those who will be worst affected, usually those at the intersection of multiple structural inequalities. More must be done not just to stave off but to reset the economy in light of a catastrophe that is snowballing, fast.”

Black and minority ethnic people continue to be overrepresented in the lowest-income groups while also enduring more food insecurity, material deprivation and fuel poverty.

Despite only making up around 15% of the population in the UK, more than a quarter (26%) continue to live in “deep poverty.” 

The hard-hitting report goes to blame the racialised changes to the tax and social security system for the plunge into poverty with white families receiving £454 less a year on average in cash benefits than they did a decade ago, however, the number has risen to  £806 less a year for Black and minority ethnic families. For Black families alone, the figure skyrockets to £1,635.

Despite the announcement of the “Energy Price Guarantee” earlier this month, fuel poverty will hit 32% of white households in comparison to 52% of  Black and minority households. 

Dr Begum said as the energy price cap is funded by public borrowing and tax cuts for the wealthy, the Government is not doing enough to demonstrate a willingness to help the “multi-ethnic working class.”

She added: “Without continued and significant public investment in social security and infrastructures, and tailored commitments to job security and fair wages, Black and minority ethnic communities in particular will continue to face hardships unknown for generations.”

The report outlines recommendations for “long-term, systemic change” including expanding measurements to better understand deep poverty, and collecting and disclosing “hidden statistics.”

The charity says that applying a racial lens to “leveling-up” is needed as well as confronting income inequality. 

Responding to the report, Dr Daniel Edmiston, a lead author and lecturer at the University of Leeds, said: “This report shows that past economic crises have increased racial inequalities below the poverty line. As we head into a new crisis of living standards, targeted and tailored support is urgently needed to ensure ethnic minority people don’t fall further behind. A failure to learn lessons from the past will result in a growing economic gap, disproportionately increasing the risk of deep poverty amongst many Black and minority ethnic households.”