Jabeer Butt , OBE Race Equality Foundation

Counting the cost: Exploring the black and minority ethnic communities experience of cold homes

Jabeer Butt, OBE

Deputy Chief Executive

30th April 2015

Introduction

• Explore what we know about black and minority ethnic communities experience of cold homes and fuel poverty;

• Explore the link with health and wellbeing;

• Reflect on the implications for policy and practice; and

• Argue for a universal approach with targeted interventions

About the Race Equality Foundation

The Race Equality Foundation promotes race equality in social support (what families and friends do for each other) and public services (what 'workers‘ do with people who need support). We do this by: • exploring what is known about discrimination and disadvantage; • developing evidenced-based better practice to promote equality; and • disseminating better practice through educational activities, conferences,

written material and websites. We were established in 1987 and became an independent charity in 1995. We have offices in London, Leeds and Manchester.

We are a Department of Health Strategic Partner. We are also a member of the Engage London consortium, which is supporting voluntary and community organisations in London to improve support for children and families. We are a founding member of the BME VCS Coalition which has recently been renamed Coalition for Race Equality.

Evidence

• Explosion of national data sets since 1991 that record ethnicity, and more recently faith

• Growth of comparative analysis (within and between ethnic groups) as well as trends

• Persistence of ‘one dimensional’ analysis. But more sophisticated analysis taking account of socio-economic characteristics taking place. However, some minorities within minorities often still missing, such as black and minority ethnic LGBT people

• Other limitations also persist. Variation of how minority and majority groups are recorded in data make it difficult to compare results from different data sets. Changes between one iteration and the next has raised problems too.

• This presentation draws on three Better Housing briefing papers published by the Race Equality Foundation and available on our website www.better-housing.org.uk.

• Helen Garrett; Justine Piddington; Simon Nicol (2014) The housing conditions of minority ethnic households in England, Better Housing Briefing Paper 25

• Megan McFarlane (2014) Ethnicity, health and the private rented sector, Better Housing Briefing Paper 25

• Nigel de Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Better Housing Briefing Paper 26

Men and mental wellbeing

Men

Ethnicity White Black South Asian Other

Observed % % % %

Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder 6.8 6.3 3.2 14.4

Generalised anxiety disorder 3.0 7.5 7.0 3.9

Depressive episode 1.7 5.6 0.7 2.8

All phobias 0.8 1.1 0.7 1.0

Obsessive compulsive disorder 0.7 4.6 0.3 2.8

Panic disorder 0.8 1.8 2.1 1.3

Any CMD 11.9 16.3 11.3 19.4

Age-standardised

Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder 6.9 5.4 3.1 16.6

Generalised anxiety disorder 3.0 5.3 6.6 2.8

Depressive episode 1.7 4.1 1.4 2.0

All phobias 0.8 1.3 1.4 0.8

Obsessive compulsive disorder 0.7 3.1 0.2 2.0

Panic disorder 0.8 1.4 2.2 0.8

Any CMD 12.0 12.9 10.3 20.2

McManus, et al (2009) Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007, Results of a household survey, NHS Information Centre

Women and mental wellbeing

Women

Ethnicity White Black South Asian Other

Observed % % % %

Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder 10.8 12.0 12.6 11.9

Generalised anxiety disorder 5.0 10.3 6.9 6.2

Depressive episode 2.7 1.1 4.8 2.5

All phobias 2.0 3.8 - -

Obsessive compulsive disorder 1.2 1.0 3.2 1.3

Panic disorder 1.0 1.7 5.0 3.4

Any CMD 19.2 25.3 23.4 21.1

Age-standardised

Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder 10.9 10.4 14.8 12.8

Generalised anxiety disorder 5.0 8.4 16.3 5.5

Depressive episode 2.7 1.4 11.8 2.2

All phobias 2.1 2.6 - -

Obsessive compulsive disorder 1.3 0.6 2.0 1.4

Panic disorder 1.0 1.3 5.3 3.3

Any CMD 19.3 21.0 34.3 20.6 McManus, et al (2009) Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007, Results of a household survey, NHS Information Centre

Variation in housing tenure between ethnic groups 2011

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

White Other

Arab

Other Asian

Chinese

Mixed Other

Any Other Ethnic Group

Mixed White and African

Black African

Mixed White and Asian

Mixed White and Caribbean

Black Other

White Gypsy or Irish Traveller

Indian

Pakistani

Bangladeshi

White Irish

White British

Black Caribbean

Private Rented Social Rented Owned

Finney and Harris (2013) How has the rise in private renting disproportionately affected some ethnic groups? CODE

Variation in housing tenure between ethnic groups, for young adults aged 25-34

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

White Other

Arab

Chinese

Other Asian

White Irish

Mixed Other

Any Other Ethnic Group

Indian

Mixed White and African

Mixed White and Asian

African

Black Other

White British

Mixed White and Caribbean

White Gypsy or Irish Traveller

Pakistani

Bangladehi

Caribbean

Private Rented Social Rented Owned

Finney and Harris (2013) How has the rise in private renting disproportionately affected some ethnic groups? CODE

Odds ratio of black and minority ethnic groups experiencing housing deprivation

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00

Black Caribbean

Indian

White British***

Other

Pakistani

Mixed*

White Irish*

Black other

Chinese***

White other***

Arab***

Asian other***

Bangladeshi***

Black African***

White Gypsy or Irish traveller***

Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation

Odds ratios of black and minority ethnic households with dependent children experiencing housing deprivation

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

White Irish

Chinese

White British

White other

Black Caribbean

Indian

Mixed

Other

Asian other

Black other

White gypsy or Irish traveller

Arab

Black African

Pakistani

Bangladeshi

Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

White British

Black Caribbean

White Irish

White gypsy or Irish traveller

Mixed

Bangladeshi

Pakistani

Black other

Indian

Other

Chinese

Black African

Asian other

Arab

White other

Odds ratios of black and minority ethnic households who migrated to England and Wales since 2000 experiencing housing deprivation compared to the population

Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation

Cold homes, fuel poverty and ethnicity

Garrett, Piddington and Nicol (2014) conclude, from their analysis of the 2010 English Housing Survey, that:

• In 2010, there were around 2.2 million households from minority ethnic backgrounds in England. Around 327,000 (15%) minority ethnic households lived in a home with at least one Category 1 HHSRS hazard.

• 18% of minority ethnic private sector households lived with a serious health and safety hazard compared with 8% of those who lived in the public sector.

• In 2010, some 4% (around 78,000) of minority ethnic households lived in a home with a Category 1 excess cold compared with 6% of white households.

• The Hills definition of fuel poverty takes account of housing costs and the depth of fuel poverty or the ‘fuel poverty gap’ (the difference between a household’s required fuel costs and what these costs would need to be for them not to be in fuel poverty). Under this definition, 16% (around 370,000) of minority ethnic households were in fuel poverty compared with 10% of white households.

National Energy Action (NEA) analysis of EHS 2012

Fuel poverty in England by ethnic group (EHS,

2012)

*Sorted by FP%

Number of

households in FP

% of households in

FP*

Pakistani or Bangladeshi 117,446 29.1%

Other Asian 42,805 20.9%

Chinese 12,395 16.3%

Indian 69,486 15.0%

Mixed 32,005 13.3%

Other 28,336 11.4%

Black 74,030 10.6%

White 1,906,076 9.7%

All households 2,282,579 10.4% National Energy Action (2015) Personal communication

Garrett, Piddington and Nicol (2014) cost and benefit analysis of fixing housing conditions for ethnic minorities

Garrett, Piddington, Nicol (2014) The housing conditions of minority ethnic households in England, Race Equality Foundation

Conclusions

• Some variation between black and minority ethnic groups, but still greater risk of poor/er housing

• If present trends in housing tenure continue, then the greater presence in poorer housing will persist or grow

• Compounded by similar or significant risk of poorer health and wellbeing for black and minority ethnic communities

• Costs of poor housing are already being paid by individuals, their families and communities, but also by services such as the NHS, therefore inaction is not a cost free option.

• Clear need to improve housing stock for all, but interventions must also target black and minority ethnic communities and/or demonstrate impact

Find out more

www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk

www.better-health.org.uk

www.better-housing.org.uk