The State of Equality and Human Rights in Britain 2018

29 October 2018

Britain’s equality body, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has made available its state of the nation report: Is Britain Fairer? 2018. The report is the most comprehensive review of how Britain is performing on equality and human rights and provides a complete picture of people’s life chances in Britain today.

Looking at six areas of everyday life, they assessed how fair Britain is over a 3 year period, highlighting trends, emerging issues and identifying what action needs to be taken now to improve the life chances of the next generation.

They found that disadvantage in key areas of life is affecting significant groups of people and warned that Britain was heading towards a “two-speed society” where the most at-risk groups of people are in danger of being forgotten and becoming trapped in disadvantage.

Some of the starkest findings include:

  • 3 in 10 children are living in poverty, and more than half of all children from Black African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi households are living in poverty
  • only 12% of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children achieve a good level of secondary school attainment, compared with 64% of White British children
  • disabled people are nearly three times more likely to experience severe material deprivation than non-disabled people

The report findings are based on a set of indicators that help to monitor and evaluate progress towards protecting and promoting equality and human rights across England, Scotland and Wales. Using a “Measurement Framework” allows us to collect and analyse evidence in a systematic way, against robust standards and to consistently evaluate change over time for specific groups. If you would like to view and find out more about the Measurement Framework please visit:

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/measurement-framework-equality-and-human-rights


Watch: Is Britain Fairer? 2018 Animation

A British Sign Language version of the executive summary is available


Find out more

If you would like to know more about the report and the research framework used to create it please contact: Ewan.Devine-Kennedy@equalityhumanrights.com

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