Liberal Democrats: Tories must stop dragging their feet on ethnicity pay gaps

The Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative Ministers to "stop dragging their feet" and require large employers to publish their ethnicity pay gaps, as new figures released today from the Office for National Statistics show that, on average, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and certain mixed-race groups are paid 15% less than white people.

Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:

Too many people's lives are blighted by discrimination and inequality. Black and Asian children are more likely to grow up in poverty than other children, and ethnicity pay gaps contribute to that injustice.

Gender pay gap reporting, introduced by the Liberal Democrats in Government, has been incredibly powerful to help force employers to take steps to improve gender equality in the workplace. Now we must do the same for ethnicity pay gaps.

It's now two years since the Government launched a consultation on requiring large employers to publish their ethnicity pay gaps, but they have still not introduced it. It's time Conservative Ministers stop dragging their feet and act.