Skip navigation

Study: English Muslims face deprivations

They are more likely to be jobless, have poor housing than other minorities

INTERACTIVE
Islam in Europe
A country-by-country rundown on the numbers, history and issues.
Europe video  
Berlusconi ‘the seducer’ still popular in Italy
July 9: Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s history of womanizing may have forced his wife to file for divorce, but the Prime minister’s approval ratings remain steady, reinforcing the notion that it takes more than a sex scandal to tarnish the reputation of an Italian public official. NBC’s Martin Fletcher reports.

Text alerts on msnbc.com

Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).

Find more alerts at alerts.msnbc.com

  Your weather

Click to see the weather outlook for your destination

updated 8:40 a.m. ET May 15, 2006

LONDON - Muslims are more likely than other religious minorities to be unemployed and live in poor housing in the most deprived parts of England, according to a government study Monday.

Half of English Muslims over the age of 25 are not involved in the formal labor market and a third live in the most deprived areas of the country, according to the study commissioned by the government.

Muslims are also particularly vulnerable to long-term illness and experience poor levels of education, said the researchers from the universities of Derby, Warwick, Birmingham and Oxford.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

“Taking the Muslim population as a whole, they face some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation,” the report said.

SPECIAL COVERAGE

Sticking close together
The report said members of the Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities were likely to remain concentrated in the same areas because families want to stay close together and many prefer to live near their places of worship.

A government spokeswoman said the academics had reviewed a variety of data, including information from the 2001 national census.

The government will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities, the spokeswoman said.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the research showed the poverty and other deep-seated problems that have contributed to the marginalization and disaffection felt among many young Muslims.

“We hope that this report serves to highlight the need to develop policies that are able reach into these communities and fulfill their needs,” Sacranie said.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored LinksGet listed here
Top Online Schools
Find the perfect online school and Boost your Career! Free Info Pack.
www.EarnMyDegree.com

Sponsored links

Resource guide