The survey of just under 8,500 adults in England and Wales, conducted between April and September last year has been published by the Department for Communities and Local Government. It found that 7 per cent of those interviewed felt they had experienced discrimination in the labour market in the past five years by being refused or turned down for a job. The percentage was unchanged on earlier versions of the survey conducted in previous years.     

 

One per cent felt they had been turned down on the grounds of their gender, with no difference between the proportions of men and women who felt they had experienced this form of discrimination.

 

One percent felt they had been turned down for a job because of disability. Two per cent because of their race and 1 per cent because of their colour – although the percentage was much higher for people from an ethnic minority background compared with white people.

Less than 0.5 per cent felt they were turned down because of their sexual orientation.

However, 3 per cent of people thought they had been turned down because of their age.  The level was highest amongst those aged 50+ (5 per cent) compared with 2 per cent of those either aged 25-34, or those aged 35-49.

 

When it came to experience of discrimination when seeking promotion for those who had worked as an employee in the last five years, 6 per cent felt they had experienced it.

One per cent felt they had been turned down for promotion because of their gender; one per cent because of their colour; one per cent because of their race;  less than 0.5 per cent because of their disability; less than 0.5 percent because of their sexual orientation; less than 0.5 per cent because of their religion or belief.  But 2 per cent felt they had been turned down for a promotion because of their age, and once again, a higher proportion of those aged 50+ felt this had been the case than those aged 35-49.