Ethnic groups faced more Covid bereavement

Research by CPC-CG member Professor Nissa Finney has found that ethnic groups in Scotland were over two times more likely to experience the death of someone close to them during Covid-19 than the white population.

The report, entitled Racism, belonging and Covid’s legacy of ethnic inequalities in Scotland drew on data collected by the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) and was authored by Professor Finney from the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews. The report has, for the first time, collated data to show the ethnic inequalities in experiences of bereavement during the Covid-19 crisis.

The EVENS data was collected between February and October 2021 to document the experiences of ethnic and religious minorities in Britain during the Covid-19 pandemic. Respondents were asked to consider bereavement since February 2020.
The results show that, in Scotland, experiencing bereavement was highest for those identifying with ‘Any other’ ethnic group (68%), Indian (44 %) and Pakistani (38%). The national average was around 25%.

Similar levels of bereavement experience were found for ethnic minority groups in England and Wales.
The report also collated data around various questions relating to discrimination and racism in Scotland’s ethnic groups, including attitudes to nationhood, belonging, political trust and relationship to policing.

It revealed that 9 in 10 Black Caribbean respondents in Scotland had recent experience of racist insults. Other minorities – Chinese (44%), Other Black (41%), and White Irish (33%) – had also experienced insults in the last five years for reasons to do with their ethnicity, race, colour or religion.

Professor Finney said: “The disproportionate impacts of Covid-19 on ethnic minorities in Scotland and the rest of Britain aren’t over. People are still dealing with its consequences day to day. Living with the loss of someone close to you doesn’t end when vaccination programmes stop.

“Our research with the EVENS Survey shows that ethnic minority people are more than twice as likely to have experienced Covid-related bereavement compared to White British. In Scotland twice the proportion of people identifying as Black and Asian compared to White British experienced the death of someone close to them during Covid.

“Our new data also reveal that racism is becoming normalised. Over 80% of ethnic minorities experience racism during their life. In Scotland, 1 in 10 Black, Asian, Arab and Chinese people have experienced unfair treatment from the police due to ethnicity or race in recent years. And most ethnic minorities worry about racism. For Black groups particularly, most accept racism as a fact of life. This is a very concerning state of affairs.

“The EVENS Survey also shows very strongly that most ethnic minorities have a strong sense of feeling part of British and Scottish society and high levels of trust for the government, particularly the Scottish Government.”

The report is a collaboration between researchers at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at the University of St Andrews, the University of Manchester, and the Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector umbrella body BEMIS.

Further reading

Racism, belonging and COVID's legacy of ethnic inequalities in Scotland (Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity)

Ethnic groups likelier to experience death of someone close during Covid, says study (University of St Andrews News)

Bereavement much higher for ethnic minorities in pandemic (The Herald)

Ethnic groups likelier to suffer death of someone close during pandemic – study (STV News)

Posted 03/02/2025 11:15