Neighbourhood Effects and Pension Protection among Ethnic Minorities in England and Wales

Ethnic minorities are concentrated in particular geographical areas in England andWales. Neighbourhood effects, such as the concentration of individuals from particular ethnic groups and levels of local deprivation, can impact upon the labour market performance of ethnic minorities and thus may affect individuals’ pension protection. This paper examines the neighbourhood effect on pension protection for ethnic minorities in England andWales using the wave 1 (January 2009–March 2011) dataset of the Understanding Society linked with a range of neighbourhood characteristics from the 2011 UK Census. Results frommultilevel logistic models highlight that in addition to theeffect of individual characteristics on patterns of pension protection, the level of concentration of own-ethnic-group individuals is significantly negatively correlated with a range of key indicators associated with pension protection such as being in paid employment, being an employee, andworking for an employer who offers a pension scheme. However, the concentration of one’s own ethnic group has no significant effect on the likelihood of being a member of an employer’s pension scheme after controlling for other factors. Living in a deprived neighbourhood is negatively correlatedwith one’s likelihood to be in paid employment or being selfemployed. Furthermore, individuals are less likely to bemembers of an employer’s pension scheme if they live in highly deprived neighbourhoods. © 2015 The Authors. Population, Space and Place. Published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd. *Correspondence to: Zhixin Feng, Centre for Research on Ageing, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. E-mail: [email protected]