While most Britons think efforts to help disabled people gain fair and equal access to work have not gone far enough, there is more division when it comes to ethnic minorities and LGBT people
Earlier this year, Donald Trump ordered a significant rolling back of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) initiatives in the US government, and pressured businesses in the US to do the same, with many complying.
The moves have caused consternation that British companies might follow suit, but where does public opinion in the UK stand on the issue? Do Britons think that initiatives to boost employment opportunities for minority groups have gone too far in the UK – or indeed, do they think more still needs to be done?
We asked Britons about six groups that diversity policies often look to assist: women, ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay and bisexual people, transgender people, disabled people, and the working class.
Opinion is most divided when it comes to ethnic and LGBT minorities. Three in ten Britons say that efforts to create fair and equal access to jobs for transgender people have gone too far (30%), with 24% saying the same of those for lesbian, gay and bisexual people and 25% for those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
However, similar numbers say that efforts to help transgender people (25%) and ethnic minorities (26%) have not gone far enough, falling to 17% for LGB people.
Only 24% think diversity schemes have been “about right” for transgender people, rising to 35% for ethnic minority Britons and 41% for lesbian, gay and bisexuals.
A survey asking the same questions to ethnic minority Britons finds that fully 50% say more needs to be done to provide people with ethnic minorities with fair and equal access to jobs, with 30% saying they have been about right and just 8% thinking they have gone too far.
By contrast, most Britons (51%) say that more still needs to be done to help disabled people gain fair access to jobs – just 6% think too much has been done in this regard.
When it comes to women and working class Britons, around half (48-50%) think the amount being done is about right, with a further three in ten (30-31%) saying more still needs to be done.
Among women themselves, sentiment is split: 43% say enough is being done, while 42% say efforts haven’t gone far enough.
Among men, the majority think efforts to tackle jobs discrimination against women have been about right (52%), with only 19% thinking they have gone too far. One in six men (16%) think such efforts have gone too far – an attitude which only 3% of women share.
How much discrimination do Britons think groups face when it comes to jobs in the UK?
While some Britons may feel that diversity employment schemes may have gone too far, that is not to say that they think prejudice does not exist in this area.
Of 12 different groups we asked about, Britons are most likely to think that disabled people face a high or moderate level of discrimination when it comes to fair and equal access to jobs (69%).
Coming in second, at 62%, is “older people”, while most Britons also think that transgender people (58%) and ethnic minorities (53%) also face significant levels of jobs discrimination.
Among ethnic minority Britons themselves, 72% believe that ethnic minorities face substantial discrimination in this regard – making them the group ethnic minority Britons are most likely to feel faces a high or moderate level of discrimination.
When it comes to jobs discrimination against women, most women (55%) believe there is a high or moderate level in the UK. However, only 33% of men agree, with 58% saying that women face little to no such discrimination.
Jobs discrimination perceptions differ between voters
Reform UK voters’ views differ most markedly from other voters on jobs discrimination faced by White people. Fully 58% of Reform voters think White people face a high or moderate level of discrimination when it comes to fair and equal access to jobs, far higher than the 28% of Tory voters and 10-11% of Labour and Lib Dem voters who say the same.
Indeed, White people are the group Reform voters are second most likely to think face significant jobs discrimination, after only “older people” on 71%. By contrast, only 24% of Reform voters think that people from ethnic minority backgrounds face a similarly high level of discrimination.
For Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative voters, it is “disabled people” that they are most likely to think face significant jobs discrimination (joint-top with “older people” in the case of the Tories); this group comes third among Reform UK voters.
Reform UK voters are also notably more likely to think that heterosexual people and men face high or moderate discrimination, at 32% and 33% respectively, vs 7-15% among other parties’ voters.
There is a similar distinction between voters when it comes to whether or not job access efforts have gone too far. Reform UK voters are significantly more likely than those from other parties to say schemes for ethnic minorities and LGBT people have gone too far.
General population and White results here
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Photo: Getty
