Sameera Ahmed and Angela Dale

Sameera Ahmed and Angela Dale (2008) have researched the
labour market participation of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in Britain. They
used national survey data along with qualitative interviews. They examined
participation rates from 2001–05 for women aged 19–60 years (not including
full-time students). Their figures show that levels of economic activity vary
by ethnicity:

Black Caribbean women – 78 per cent

White women – 77 per cent

Pakistani women – 31 per cent

Bangladeshi women – 21 per cent

They also confirmed that unemployment rates among the
economically active are higher for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women:

Bangladeshi women – 16 per cent

Pakistani women – 15 per cent

White women – 3.4 per cent