It's too simple to say that black and Asian people get the worst jobs, though that used to be true and for some people it still is.

When discrimination was not against the law, when lots of people were newcomers, when employers were completely unused to the idea of black and Asian workers, when many workers didn't know English very well or their rights - then discrimination was not even disguised. This was also true 60 or more years ago, when many Jews arrived in Britain, and it is something that has happened to Irish people as well.

For some people it is as bad as ever, though it has become more hidden because of the law.

There are other things which effect the kinds of jobs people have. One is (obviously) where they live and the kinds of jobs and work opportunities available. Another is their level of education and the kinds of jobs they are qualified for. Another is the kind of jobs people want and apply for.

If you want to explain the pattern of jobs held by minority ethnic groups you need to take all these factors into account. For example, there are not many black or Asian farmers in Scotland - their numbers are low in rural Scotland anyway. There are not a lot of Jewish fishermen in Cornwall, for similar reasons. On the other hand, there are lots of young black men in London, yet almost none in the Army's best regiments, even though lots apply (in 1997 the Army launched a special campaign to try to put this right, and they are still working on it). A number of young doctors are from Asian backgrounds, probably because this is seen as a respectable and secure job so a lot of people aim at it.

If we divide up jobs into those where people work with their hands and those where they work in offices, roughly speaking the second group need higher qualifications and they earn more (though not in all cases, obviously).

Compared to white, non-Jewish people, some minority ethnic groups are in different kinds of work:

• Jews are more likely than non-Jews to be in better paid work needing higher qualifications
• Chinese people are more likely than whites to be in well-paid jobs, but they are generally better qualified. All the same, they are less likely to be in jobs matching their qualifications
• There are plenty of Indian people in better paid and highly qualified jobs, but also many at the lower end of the pay scale. On average, Indians earn less than whites, though like the Chinese, they tend to be better qualified
• Pakistani and Bangladeshi men are more likely to be unemployed than white men
• Pakistani and Bangladeshi men are likely to be paid less than white men
• African-Caribbean and Bangladeshi men are only half as likely as white men to be working in the better paid 'professional' jobs
• Compared to white women, few Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are working
• Compared to white women, more women of Caribbean background are working, and their pay levels are higher. They are less likely than white women to be in jobs matching their qualifications