Religion & Employment

(Source: Annual Population Survey, January 2004 to December 2004, Office for National Statistics)

• Jewish people were most likely to be self-employed in Great Britain in 2004, followed by Muslims and Buddhists. A third of Jewish people and around a fifth of Muslims and Buddhists were self-employed. These compared with around one in ten Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and those with no religion.
  
  
• Certain religious groups are concentrated in particular industries. In 2004, 37% of Muslim men in employment were working in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry compared with 17% of Christian men and no more than 27% of men in any other group.
  
  
• Muslim and Sikh men were more likely than other men to be working in the transport and communication industry. More than one in seven from these religions worked in this sector compared with less than one in ten from any other religious group.
  
  
• Jewish men were more likely than men from any other religion to work in the banking, finance and insurance industry. Around a third of Jewish men worked in this sector.
  
  
• Among women in employment, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu women were most likely to work in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry. Over a quarter of each group worked in this industry compared with around a fifth women from most other groups. Sikh women were more likely than other women to work in manufacturing - one in seven worked in manufacturing compared with less than one in ten women from any other religion.
  
  
• Among men in employment, Jews and Hindus are the most likely to work in managerial or professional occupations - about half in each group in 2004. One in twenty Hindu men was a medical practitioner in 2004 compared with one in two hundred Christian men.
  
  
• Muslim and Sikh men are the least likely to be working in managerial or professional occupations (less than a third of these groups), and the most likely to be working in low skilled jobs. In 2004, almost one in ten Muslim men was a taxi driver, cab driver or chauffeur.
  
  
• The proportion of Christian men working in managerial or professional occupations is similar to that for Muslims and Sikhs, at around 30%. However, Christian men are more likely than Muslims and Sikhs to be working in skilled trade jobs. Christian men are also less likely than Muslims to be in low skilled jobs.
  
  
• Patterns are similar for women, although not as pronounced. Jewish and Buddhist women are the most likely to work in managerial or professional occupations. Sikh women are the most likely to be working in low skilled jobs. Around one in ten Sikh women was working as a process, plant and machine operative in 2004 compared with around 3% in most other groups.
  
  
• Muslim, Hindu and Sikh women are concentrated in sales and customer service jobs (between 16 and 20%), compared with 12% among Christians and those with no religion.
  
  
• A review of pay gaps based on religion or belief showed there to be an adverse pay gap for Muslim men and a beneficial pay gap for Jews. Earlier research also identified a large pay gap for Sikhs. However, evidence of pay gaps between other religions was found to be unclear (Metcalf, 2009). Longhi and Platt (2008) also found that women of all denominations (and those with no denomination) had pay gaps relative to Christian men and these were highest for Sikh and Muslim women (22%).