Affirmative action policies to remedy ethnic minority disadvantage in the labour market

Abstract

Throughout Western Europe the children of immigrants continue to experience major ethnic penalties in the labour market in comparison with their peers from the majority group. Direct and indirect racial discrimination are undoubtedly part of the explanation for these penalties, but there are a range of other contributory factors too. Policy responses therefore need to be diverse in order to address the different barriers. The paper then reviews policies such as anti-discrimination measures, affirmative action policies specifying quotas, affirmative action policies specifying targets, and a legally-imposed duty to promote equality, Evidence of the effectiveness of the different sorts of policy is briefly summarized and the paper concludes with recommendations to stakeholders.