Please cite this article in press as: Khattab, N., & Johnston, R. Ethno-religious identities and persisting penalties in the UK labor market. The Social Science Journal (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2014.10.007 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model SOCSCI-1236; No. of Pages 13 The Social Science Journal xxx (2014) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect The Social Science Journal journa l h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/soscij Ethno-religious identities and persisting penalties in the UK labor market Nabil Khattab a,∗ , Ron Johnston b,1 a The Centre of the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, 11 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom b School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 5 June 2014 Received in revised form 16 October 2014 Accepted 16 October 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Ethno-religious identities Labor market inequalities UK Unemployment a b s t r a c t Most studies of minority group penalties in the UK labor market have focused on groups classified by their self-assessed ethnicity only, without taking into account major divisions within such groups, notably by religion. Using a large sample taken from the quarterly Labor Force Survey, this paper analyze levels of both unemployment and obtaining posts within the salariat for fourteen separate ethno-religious groups. Estimates of both gross and net penalties are derived, the latter taking the individuals’ human capital resources into account. They show that most non-White groups face an employment penalty, but Muslim groups – both men and women – experienced the greatest penalties. These penal- ties are exacerbated when searching for any job turns into searching for a managerial or a professional job suggesting that inequality is preserved through mechanisms of color and cultural racism which intensifies as minority workers seek jobs at the more lucrative end of the labor market – which, if persistent, could have long-term implications for the cohesion of the UK’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. © 2014 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Finding a job that matches one’s educational qualifi- cations is easier for some groups than others in the UK labor market, and there are major differences among ethnic and religious groups in the extent of their success in this exercise (Cheung & Heath, 2007; Johnston, Sirkeci, Khattab, & Modood, 2010). Most previous studies have referred to such inter-group differences as ethnic penalties, suggest- ing that they result, in part at least, from disadvantages – and even discrimination – experienced by members of eth- nic minority groups (Carmichael & Woods, 2000). Although ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1173310606. E-mail addresses: nabil.khattab@bristol.ac.uk (N. Khattab), r.johnston@bristol.ac.uk (R. Johnston). 1 Tel.: +44 0117 928 9116. the general patterns are clear-cut, however, there is also considerable unaccounted-for variation both within and across groups. Studies do not show, for example, whether the penalties are constant across individuals’ careers or are more pronounced at certain stages only, nor whether they vary according to their occupational status – are the penal- ties greater for those pursuing professional and managerial as against more routine occupations, for example? To address some of these questions, this paper expands the estimation and appreciation of such penalties by focus- ing not only on a single indicator – unemployment among those seeking work – but also in more detail on individuals in one occupational class only – the salariat, comprising those in a range of professional and managerial jobs. It deploys three strategies to minimize the unaccounted-for variation across individuals. First, it uses a substantial num- ber of explanatory variables to account for variations in terms of individuals’ human capital and other resources http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2014.10.007 0362-3319/© 2014 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.