Self-Isolation Support Grant: equality impact assessment

Race

Minority Ethnic people are more likely to work in low income professions and therefore more likely to be impacted by the advice to stay at home.

This is compounded by the modification to the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 remaining in place. There are significant socio-economic inequalities that are faced by people from ethnic minority backgrounds. 39% of people from an Asian or Asian British background face relative poverty after housing costs are removed in Scotland, with 38% of people from a mixed, black or black British or other related background in the same situation. By contrast, for people identifying as “White-Other” that figure is 25% and for those identifying as “White-British” that figure falls further, to 18%.^[14]

In addition, in BME communities Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have much higher rates of heart disease compared to their white British counterparts, and black African and African Caribbean people have higher rates of hypertension compared to other ethnic groups. Further, BME groups overall are six times more likely to develop diabetes compared to white British people. There is substantial evidence to show that BME communities experience high rates of child poverty and ill health^[15].

In terms of the job market, a higher proportion of minority ethnic people work in the hospitality industry (31.7% vs 18.6% of the white population, 2019 data). According to the last census, Asian men and women were particularly likely to be working in wholesale and retail and accommodation and food services, and African women were by far the most likely to be working in either caring, leisure and other service occupations or sales and customer service occupations, where homeworking may be much less feasible.^[16]

There is also an intersectional challenge with the inequalities issues faced by minority ethnic women and young people. The minority ethnic employment gap was much higher for women than men. For women the gap was 22 percentage points and for men it was 9.5 percentage points. The gap in the employment rate for the minority ethnic population was largest for ages 16 to 24 (26.1 percentage points); followed by ages 25 to 34 (25.3 percentage points), ages 35 to 49 (15.0 percentage points), and ages 50 to 64 (3.1 percentage points). There was some evidence of possible negative differential impact, mitigated by SISG.

The data also supports that there is a higher percentage of multi-generational households in concentrated ethnic minority areas across Scotland. This results in increases to secondary contact transmission rates. In May 2021, eligibility for the grant had to be extended to secondary as well as primary contacts for certain postcodes with the Govanhill area of Glasgow due to a health requirement to deal with the large number of cases within those densely populated areas. Ethnic minorities are more likely to live in ‘overcrowded’ housing as well as multigenerational households; 30% of Bangladeshi households and 15% of black African households are overcrowded (where there are more people than bedrooms), compared to 2% of white British households^[17].

SISG support for staying at home from 1 May 2022 remained available to anyone earning the equivalent of the real living wage or less to get through a period of staying at home, this helped to mitigate the economic impact for BAME people in low-paid or insecure work.

In addition, the economic and social challenges faced by these groups – a higher likelihood of falling into poverty, an increased chance of being in a job that may bring workers into contact with Covid-19, the SISG can mitigate the cost to workers from these backgrounds, who may be on lower incomes and below the real living wage, by providing targeted support to get them through a period of isolation. In addition, the assistance provided by the Local Self-Isolation Assistance Service enabled the provision of vital support such as food and essential medicine delivery.

In 2015-20, people from non-white minority ethnic groups were more likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs compared to those from the ‘White-British’ and ‘White-Other’ groups^[18].

The poverty rate was 41% for the ‘Asian or Asian British’ ethnic groups (50,000 people each year), and 43% for ‘Mixed, Black or Black British and Other’ ethnic groups (no population estimate available due to the small sample).

The poverty rate amongst the ‘White-Other’ group was 24% (80,000 people) and that of the ‘White-British’ group was 18% (860,000 people).

Impact of changes brought in from 1 May 2022

The amendments brought in from 1 May 2022 were in response to the changing Health Policy advising people to stay at home as opposed to having to self-isolate. We did not make any changes to actual eligibility for the grant, so it remained open to all groups who meet the eligibility criteria to apply. There is no data currently available to suggest that the protected characteristic of race has been negatively impacted by the changes brought in from 1 May 2022.