ONE in eight black and minority ethnic (BME) women are not working due to their caring commitments, new TUC analysis will reveal today. 

Those in their thirties are the hardest are the hit, with a shocking 19 per cent being forced out of the labour market due to being unpaid carers, the analysis of official figures found.

The overall rate for BME women was 12 times higher than men.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “It’s a key driver of the gender pay gap and it’s clear it is contributing to a big number of BME households living on the poverty line.

“We desperately need more flexible childcare for all families, that works around shifts, weekend work and irregular working patterns, to support women who want to work.”

White women were overall four times more likely to be in care work than white men, the rate among BME women was three times higher still, with the rates at one in seven and one in 10 for those in their forties and their fifties respectively, the TUC found.

BME women make up just one in 14 of the 16-plus population yet account for 27 per cent of those who are out of the jobs market due to caring responsibilities, the analysis added.

Mr Nowak said: “Women shouldn’t have to give up or cut down on paid work because they can’t find or afford the right care for their children or older or disabled relatives.

“But too many BME women who’d like to be in work are excluded from the jobs market because of their caring commitments.

“Once women leave paid work, they often take that financial hit for the rest of their lives.”

The TUC says that introducing flexible high-quality childcare, available to all, free at the point of use would allow women working shift or atypical working patterns to stay in work when they have children.

Carers UK chief executive Helen Walker said: “That close to a quarter of a million women from ethnic minority backgrounds are giving up work to provide unpaid care is staggering.”

She urged the government to commit to long-term investment in social care services, saying: “Being able to work flexibly is a must, and a right to paid carer’s leave would help level the playing field, making a big difference to carers.”