The Black Lives Matter movement is making the news. The headline is that black people are twice as likely to live in poverty than white people. Some white people, particularly those who grew up in poverty, are asking why the focus is on black people when more white people live in poverty.
Let’s look at the numbers.
This data comes from the Office of National Statistics, specifically the number of children eligible for a free school meal[1].
The square below represents all children.
The population has been broken down by ethnic group with the children in poverty highlighted.
There are seven times as many white people in poverty than black people.
The proportion of people living in poverty is roughly two times higher in the Black ethnic group.
This is because there are thirteen times as many white people than black people.
[1]
There are many ways to measure poverty - relative poverty, absolute poverty, by income or privilege.
Free school meals is a means-tested benefit that includes every child in school. This is a very reliable measure because only a small number of home-schooled children are not counted. Also, the ONS produces many reports that break down the same data into different groups - ethnic groups, age groups, regions, etc.