Ethnic Minorities in Northern Ireland

Author(s): Greg Irwin and Seamus Dunn
Commissioned by: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Document Type: Report
Year: 1997
Publisher: Centre for the Study of Conflict, University of Ulster
Place of Publication: Coleraine
ISBN: 1 85923 068 7
Subject Area(s): Ethnicity
Client Group(s): Minority Ethnic Groups

Abbreviations: GB - Great Britain, ROI - Republic of Ireland

Background

  • The research set out to examine four central questions relating to the Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and Traveller communities living in Northern Ireland:
    • What are the populations of the four ethnic groups?
    • What is the general social or demographic profile of each of the four groups?
    • What are their views, opinions and experiences of the general experience of living in Northern Ireland?
    • What are their opinions regarding legislation in the area of race relations?

Research Approach

  • The central element in the research strategy was a large-scale survey which involved two major pieces of fieldwork. An enumeration exercise was designed to count the numbers of people belonging to the four communities and to provide a sampling frame from which a representative sample could be derived. Using the sampling frame from the enumeration exercise, a weighted sample of 1176 - stratified by ethnic group so that sufficient numbers from each community were chosen - was drawn by simple random sampling, and subsequently surveyed.

Main Findings

Enumeration of Ethnic Minorities

  • In relation to this research, the central problem in Northern Ireland has been the absence of any scientific measure of the size of populations of the main ethnic minorities. Consequently, estimates have been notional or anecdotal without any scientific or empirical basis. There is some disagreement within estimates, however it seems safe to conclude that ethnic minorities make up less than 1% of the total population in Northern Ireland. Estimates range from 10,000 to 15,000. With the exception of the Chinese community, the enumeration exercise largely confirmed most of the estimates published in the past.

Characteristics of Ethnic Minority Groups in Northern Ireland

  • Of the 64222 enumerated members of the four targeted ethnic minorities, half were members of the Chinese Community (51%), 21% belonged to the Traveller Community (21%), 16% to the Indian community and 10% to the Pakistani ethnic group. Additionally, 88 individuals (1%) were recorded as 'other'.
  • The position of the Chinese community as the largest ethnic group in Northern Ireland contrasts with GB and is not easily explained, however it must be related to its economic specialisation in the catering industry, and the establishment of a thriving network of successful small businesses.
  • 1428 were enumerated by the fieldwork, representing the usually resident population of the main ethnic groups in Northern Ireland: 755 were Chinese, 295 Indian, 122 Pakistani and 243 Traveller households.
  • The average household size for the general population in Northern Ireland is 2.9, however all the ethnic groups had a higher average household size, ranging from 3.5 for the Indian community to 5 for both the Pakistani and Traveller communities. The Chinese community had an average household size of 3.9.
  • One in five of all the ethnic households enumerated contained 6 or more persons, compared with only 6% of the general population. Conversely whilst a quarter of households in Northern Ireland as a whole contains only one person, only 9% of the ethnic households are in this category.
  • Ethnic minority households are more likely than the general population to contain some dependent children, have more than three adults and have a smaller proportion containing those over 60 years of age. While 38% of households in the general population contain a child under 16, this was the case in three out of every five (61%) of ethnic households.
  • With the exception of the Traveller Community, the instance of single-parent families amongst the ethnic groups does not differ greatly from the general population. The instance of cohabitation amongst all groups is negligible and would seem to support the theory that the ethnic minorities under study support traditional family structures.
  • The Travelling community has a negligible proportion of two family households, although ethnic minority households as a whole are three times more likely to contain more than one family than the general population. Conversely, 27% of households in the general population are in the 'no family' category, compared to less than half this figure among ethnic households, illustrating the strong family structure of ethnic groups.
  • Ethnic minorities have a younger age profile than the population as a whole, with larger proportions of their communities in the younger age categories. There are however also notable differences within the ethnic groups themselves with respect to age.
  • Almost exactly half of all ethnic minority members were born in the United Kingdom. This is not very different from the figure of 47% of all ethnic groups living in GB who were born there. Within a similar range, 44% of all ethnic minority members were born in Northern Ireland, 6% in GB and 4% in the ROI.
  • Sixty per cent of ethnic households were owner occupied, similar to 62% of the general population in Northern Ireland. However the picture for other kinds of accommodation is more complex. Nine per cent of ethnic minority households membership, as opposed to 29% of the general population, live in accommodation rented from local or public authorities.
  • Proportionately more ethnic minority households live in other categories of rented accommodation, such as unfurnished and furnished private renting.
  • The overall ethnic minority population represents only a small proportion of the total of the Northern Ireland population. It is only in the Belfast District Council area, for example, that the ethnic proportion is likely to exceed 1% of the total population of the area. In addition, a disproportionate number (74%) of these minority populations live in the east of Northern Ireland. This geographical settlement pattern varies a little within the four groups.
  • With respect to the data collected in the survey, as well as data from the 1991 Northern Ireland Census, it is clear that the populations of the four groups are growing at a rate well in excess of the general population.

Social Profile

  • Generally, the profile of the non-Traveller ethnic groups reflect a higher level of economic achievement than that of the general population. Similarly all of the Asian groups have higher levels of employment and educational attainment and higher rates of home ownership.
  • There are subtle differences between Asian Groups. The Indian Community has the highest proportions, among the other ethnic groups, of economically active members in the the top occupational classes. It also has higher numbers with professional qualifications, and a larger proportion own their homes generally.
  • Although the Pakistani community reflects the success of the Indian community to some degree, the former have higher levels of unemployment with greater proportions of overcrowding for this group. Only a third of Pakistanis were in the top occupational class, with greater proportions in the skilled (non-manual) occupational class, reflecting this community's traditional association with marketing.
  • The Chinese community tends to have more members in the skilled (manual) occupational class than the other ethnic groups - reflecting the influence of catering, with a greater proportion renting their homes (furnished or unfurnished). A notable feature is the high proportion of this community who are self-employed, with a significant number of females as well as males in this category.
  • The Traveller community comes out least favourably: of most concern is the finding that four out of five Travellers have not had a paid job in the past ten years. This community also has a low level of educational achievement compared both to other ethnic groups and to the population as a whole.

Access to Services

  • The findings show that while difficulties in accessing services is a substantial problem for Chinese community in particular, this does not seem to be the case to the same extent for the other ethnic groups.
  • By far the greatest problem in accessing services arises out of language and communication difficulties. For example, 67% of Chinese interviewees felt there were difficulties in accessing social services.
  • Among other important access problems were the negligible level of take-up of Government training programs by Travellers; a significant dissatisfaction with the police amongst Chinese respondents; and a relatively low rate of crime reporting to the police by the Traveller community.

Living in Northern Ireland

  • The vast majority of respondents thought that things had changed in Northern Ireland since the paramilitary ceasefires of 1994. Half of those questioned felt that these ceasefires and the consequent changes, will make things worse for their community; most notably, 63% of the Chinese community thought this.
  • Where harassment was experienced, the evidence was that a greater proportion of the Chinese community seemed to be the recipients. The most common form was verbal abuse, and this was experienced by 44% of all respondents. Over half of the Chinese revealed having experienced criminal damage towards their property.
  • Sixty one per cent of respondents believed there was racial prejudice in Northern Ireland.
  • Sixty seven per cent of those questioned did not know about the proposed race relations legislation before being interviewed. Nine out of ten however, supported the introduction of such a law, although there was a relatively significant proportion of the Indian community opposed to the idea.
  • Although three quarters of those questioned felt that the legislation can improve the position of their community, only 58% thought that such legislation would help to stop racial discrimination.
 

Home | About ORB | Contact


Disclaimer: © ORB 2001Friday, 28-Mar-2003 13:07