The Health Foundation and the Runnymede Trust have published a joint report examining the relationship between racism and health outcomes.
A healthy society relies on everyone having the foundations in place that help people navigate life's challenges. The report, 'How racism affects health', shows how people of colour experience three building blocks of good health: employment, income and where people live, and finds large, unacceptable variations according to ethnicity.
Notably, approximately 60% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children, along with over half of Black children, live in poverty after housing costs, compared to only a quarter of white children. These stark differences underscore the urgent need for systemic change to ensure equitable access to health resources for all.
The report highlights the multifaceted nature of these disparities, considering factors such as socio-economic status, migration history, and geographical location. It also identifies the direct and indirect impacts of racism, which impact physical and mental health.
Crucially, the research highlights how racism is embedded in the everyday structures of society, including the labour market and housing systems. People of colour experience discriminatory hiring practices, biased policies, and hostility in the workplace. When looking for a home, they face 3 to 4 times more discrimination and a significantly increased risk of eviction.
Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation, said, "The Health Foundation has previously highlighted stark differences in health by ethnicity. This new report lays bare the inequalities that many ethnic groups face in accessing the building blocks of good health – income, employment and healthy homes and neighbourhoods. While there is no single story of advantage or disadvantage, the report highlights areas where racism operates within the everyday structures of our society, limiting people's opportunity to be healthy."
Shabna Begum, Chief Executive Officer at the Runnymede Trust, said, "During the pandemic, we were all forced to witness the way racialised experiences of the labour market, housing and the lived environment impacted on at least first-wave mortality rates - the reality of racism felt inescapable. And yet, five years on, we seem to have reached into our remarkable selective memory capacity and erased the deeply troubling revelations about racialised experiences in the labour market, housing systems and the wider lived environment.
"Occasionally, when a particularly harrowing story flashes in the headlines – such as the deaths of two-year-old Awaab Ishak and nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debra – we have moments of recognition. But mostly we see stubborn indifference to racialised patterns and a reliance on treating the matter as a 'social-class issue', or even distraction - by wanting to debate the genetic predispositions that some people may have to poor health. Neither is helpful. Better health for all cannot be realised without a diagnosis that understands how racism is constitutive of health and that then entails the need for a strategic and committed approach to tackling these deep-rooted inequalities."
Download the report at: https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/reports/how-racism-affects-health
