How racism affects health

A healthy society depends on everyone having the building blocks of good health: secure and decent housing, a good job with enough pay, high quality education and healthy neighbourhoods. These foundations give people a solid frame to withstand life’s shocks and challenges. 

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But too many people do not have access to these building blocks of health. Our new report with the Health Foundation finds unacceptable variations in the experience of the building blocks of health for certain people of colour:

• Approximately 3 in 5 Bangladeshi and Pakistani children, and over half of Black children, live in poverty after housing costs, compared with a quarter of white children. 
• People of colour on average hold far less wealth than White British people and have lower incomes, with 51% of Bangladeshi, 45% of Pakistani and 38% of Black households being in the lowest fifth of the income distribution, compared with 18% of White British households. 
• People of colour are more likely to live in poor-quality, overcrowded, unaffordable homes, particularly in the private rental market, and are more likely to experience homelessness. 
• Communities of colour do not have equal access to a healthy external living environment, such as access to green space and clear air, and are at particular risk of community displacement

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The reasons for these differences are complex, with socio-economic status, migration and history, and geography all impacting a person’s disadvantage.

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This report examines how racism - interpersonal, institutional and structural - affects health, and how it has both direct and indirect negative impacts on physical and mental health. We identify ways in which racism operates within the everyday structures of our society – the labour market, housing systems and lived environment – and limits people’s opportunity to be healthy. 

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A credible agenda for improving health needs to ensure policy and decision making considers the conditions of different communities, and seeks to address these stark inequalities. This needs to understand and address the role of structural racism as a determinant of health.

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