Why Black Children in Britain Underperform Educationally (Notes and References)

Habari Gani all

Here are the notes from my recent video entitled “Why Black Children in Britain Underperform Educationally”:

• In the previous video, we discussed the ESN Scandal and how that has impacted the educational outcomes of Caribbean immigrants in the UK and their descendants.

• In this video, we will look more broadly at the educational outcomes of Black children in Britain. I will suggest a couple of key reasons for this.

Black Children’s Underperformance

• Black children achieve around the same as other groups at 4 to 5, and age 11. The gaps start lengthening at GCSE and A Level: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities/education-and-training

Factors that correlate with educational Outcomes

There are some key factors which predict how well children will do in education, on average. The first of these is whether a child qualifies for Free School Meals.

Free School Meals

• The following two charts from IFS “Education inequalities Changes in education over time” Aug 2022 https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/education-inequalities/

Black children are among the most likely to qualify for free school meals:

• Academic year 2023/24 Schools, pupils and their characteristics: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics

Household Income

The overall income of the households that children come from also correlate with their education attainment:

• IFS “Education inequalities Changes in education over time” Aug 2022 https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/education-inequalities/

As we’ve covered previously, Black households are amongst the lowest-earning.

• Income distribution Published 26 May 2023: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/income-distribution/latest/#by-ethnicity-after-housing-costs

Parental Education level and Job Type

Finally, a recent University of Manchester Study found that parental educational level and job type along with income, are correlated with children’s education outcomes.

• !Parental help with schoolwork does little for children’s academic progress! https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/parental-help-with-schoolwork-does-little-for-childrens-academic-progress/

Brining it all together

• The income of the household, the type of job parents do and the level of education of parents are the best predictors of children's educational attainment

• Why? Because of all that comes with a household with a high income: Stability in the home, networks, understanding of the importance and impact of the educational system, a desire to engage and succeed educationally plus the knowhow on how to do this, how to navigate it, how to study, revise, etc.

Why low household income among Black families?

• Why is household wealth among Black families so low?

• Because most of them are either single adult household or lone Parent households

• I've covered this in my video on Black Middle Class in Britain

• But I want to show you at graphic that explains things very clearly

• Proportion of children in lone parent families by ethnic group, England and Wales, 2019 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/adhocs/12947proportionofchildreninloneparentfamiliesbyethnicgroupenglandandwales2019

• Most Black Caribbean children are growing up in single parent households and nearly half of Black African children are

• This is the single most important factor we have to contend with. I think that if we can get to the bottom of why so few Black children grow up with two parents, we can start to understand how to change the script