Average white British child a dozen times more likely to be Prime Minister than a black British child, BBC research finds
New research for the BBC explores the difference in life chances between black and white children born in Britain today for a new one off documentary presented by David Harewood, Will Britain Have A Black Prime Minister? (BBC Two, Sunday 13 November at 9pm), part of the BBC’s Black and British season.
Published: 12 November 2016
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my own life, it’s that black people can and will, despite the odds, break through those barriers to success.
Statistician, Dr. Faiza Shaheen has developed a model that calculates the probability of a black individual making it to No. 10.
These are her findings:
- The average black child born in the UK today has a 1 in 17 million chance of becoming the Prime Minister.
- The average white child born in the UK today has a 1 in 1.4 million chance of becoming the Prime Minister.
- A white child is 12 times more likely to make it to the office of Number 10, compared to a black child. 54 Prime Ministers have all been white.
- A white child born into a wealthy household, who goes to private school, makes it into a top university and gets into a top profession, has a 1 in 200,000 chance of becoming Prime Minister.
- This white individual is 90 times more likely than an average black person to become Prime Minister.
In the programme David Harewood says about the findings: “This demonstrated to me that the system is structured in an elitist way that favours those with wealth and privilege over others, particularly people of colour. If you’re a state school educated black kid even if you cross all those hurdles, the system still inherently is going to disadvantage you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my own life, it’s that black people can and will, despite the odds, break through those barriers to success.”
EJ
