FOI/2023/1058
You asked
I have noticed that on many of your pages, such as 'Household wealth by ethnicity, Great Britain: April 2016 to March 2018', 'Ethnicity pay gaps in Great Britain: 2018' and the ethnicity section of 'Household income' (2022) there is not a specific 'Mixed Race White and Asian' section. Not only are you not providing this, you are also combining very distinct groups in terms of wealth, income, and social mobility. I believe the 'Mixed' section, which you do provide, is composed of 'Mixed Race White and Asian', 'Mixed Race White and Black Caribbean', and 'Mixed Race White and Black African'. According to some data provided by the Gov which does account for the different groups, the Department for Education; 'National curriculum assessments: Key Stage 4 performance 2019' suggested that 53% of KS4 Mixed Race White and Asian Boys achieved 'benchmark levels' compared to 39% of Mixed Race White and Black African Boys and 28% of Mixed Race White and Black Caribbean Boys. Clearly, the groups differ here greatly. It should go without saying that this helps contribute to vastly different levels of wealth and income. My request is for the data for each of the 'Mixed' groups ('Mixed Race White and Asian', 'Mixed Race White and Black Caribbean', and 'Mixed Race White and Black African') for Household Wealth (2016-2018), Pay Gaps (in the 2018 report), and income (in the 2022 report). I also request an explanation for why you combine these groups. I think there is a strong argument you are not capturing anything of statistical importance in the 'Mixed' section. If your reasoning for combining the groups into a 'Mixed' section, is that the composing groups ('Mixed Race White and Asian', 'Mixed Race White and Black Caribbean', and 'Mixed Race White and Black African') are too small, then I request a statistical reason for why you choose to not add them to the other section.
We said
Thank you for your query regarding the reporting of estimates by ethnic group within the following publications:
The breakdowns of ethnic groups used in these articles are guided by the number of households or individuals available for analysis. Where sample sizes are large enough, estimates are shown for individual ethnic groups. For example, reference table one accompanying the latest Ethnicity Pay Gaps article (Ethnicity pay gaps: 2019) provides median hourly pay for the ‘White and Asian’, ‘White and Black Caribbean’ and ‘White and Black African’ ethnic groups individually.
However, for some surveys where sample sizes are smaller, we have combined data for some ethnic groups to ensure we can provide robust estimates. This means that data for the ‘White and Asian’, ‘White and Black Caribbean’ and ‘White and Black African’ ethnic groups are aggregated within the group ‘Mixed or Multiple Ethnic groups’ in the income, wealth and earlier 2018 Ethnicity pay gaps publications. This follows Census guidance for combining these groups where they cannot be reported separately.
Specific estimates by ethnic group may be available to order via our bespoke services. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs, subject to our charging policy. If you would like to request bespoke datasets, please contact the following teams to discuss your enquiry further including around the statistical quality of estimates based on small sample sizes and important considerations around statistical disclosure.
For estimates of income - hie@ons.gov.uk
For estimates of wealth - wealth.and.assets.survey@ons.gov.uk
For estimates of Ethnicity Pay Gaps - Policy.Evidence.Analysis@ons.gov.uk
As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.