Black Africans are four times more likely to be out of work than white Irish-born citizens, it has emerged.
Researchers
found the immigrant group suffered the lowest rate of employment and
also faced seven times more discrimination both in the workplace and
when looking for a job.
The labour force participation was just
60% for black Africans and 65% for Europeans who were not white in 2010,
while it ranged from 72% to 80% for white Europeans and Asians, many
who arrived on student visas and could legally work part-time.
Professor
Philip O'Connell said the severe disadvantages suffered by black
Africans may be due, in part, to the fact that many are regarded as
refugees.
"People who enter the country as asylum seekers spend a
considerable period of time excluded from the labour market, and in many
respects excluded from participation in Irish society, under the direct
provision system," said Prof O'Connell, director of the UCD Geary
Institute.
"Long-term non-employment can have a scarring effect on
subsequent employment prospects. If you are excluded from work for a
long period of time, your skills deteriorate and it's very difficult to
get a job again."
The findings, based on 2004 and 2010 surveys
from the Central Statistics Office, were published by the Economic and
Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Equality Authority.
Researchers
said the number of non-Irish nationals in work more than doubled from
164,400 in 2004 to 341,500 at the end of 2007, at the peak of the boom,
but as unemployment soared and the recession deepened, the gap between
Irish and foreign nationals in work grew.
Black Africans were more
likely to be employed in 2010 than six years earlier, which could be
because of a change in legal status. However, they still recorded the
highest unemployment rate (36%), while white people from the 'old' EU-13
member states had the lowest rate (9%), followed by Asians (12%). Irish
nationals also held the majority of professional and managerial
occupations.
Renee Dempsey, chief executive of the Equality
Authority, said the report showed immigrants did not fare as well as
Irish nationals in the Irish labour market. "Clearly there needs to be a
renewed focus on promoting equality for immigrants and for minority
ethnic groups in the labour market and throughout society," she added.
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