05-15-2006, 03:53 PM
<b>Muslim hardship under spotlight</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Many Muslims in England face bleak employment prospects and endure poor standards of housing, a government-backed study has found.
The report revealed Muslims were more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It said half of Muslims aged over 25 were unemployed, and one in three lived in the most deprived areas of England.
University researchers in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford, and Warwick also found they had poorer levels of education.
The study, commissioned to review the prospects of faith communities in England, also said Muslims were more vulnerable to long-term illness.</span></b>
<b>'Multiple deprivation'</b>
"Taking the Muslim population as a whole, they face some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation," the report said.
John Prescott's former department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), commissioned the academics to review data on the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities.
As well as highlighting the disadvantages suffered, the report found members of these communities were likely to remain concentrated in the same areas.
This was because families wanted to stay close together and many prefer to live near to their places of worship.
Researchers reviewed a variety of data, including information from the 2001 national census.
The government will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities, a spokeswoman said.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Many Muslims in England face bleak employment prospects and endure poor standards of housing, a government-backed study has found.
The report revealed Muslims were more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It said half of Muslims aged over 25 were unemployed, and one in three lived in the most deprived areas of England.
University researchers in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford, and Warwick also found they had poorer levels of education.
The study, commissioned to review the prospects of faith communities in England, also said Muslims were more vulnerable to long-term illness.</span></b>
<b>'Multiple deprivation'</b>
"Taking the Muslim population as a whole, they face some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation," the report said.
John Prescott's former department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), commissioned the academics to review data on the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities.
As well as highlighting the disadvantages suffered, the report found members of these communities were likely to remain concentrated in the same areas.
This was because families wanted to stay close together and many prefer to live near to their places of worship.
Researchers reviewed a variety of data, including information from the 2001 national census.
The government will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities, a spokeswoman said.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->