Numerous groups have settled in Britain (Irish, Jewish, Polish, Chinese),but a new pattern of immigration was established after 1945. The end of World War II brought about new flows of immigrants coming from the New Commonwealth (India, a few African countries, the West Indies) and from Pakistan. The Commonwealth had taken part in the war and soldiers had fought under the Union Jack with the British troops, and the UK seemed all the more welcoming in its role of mother country as there was a high rate of unemployment in the Commonwealth countries.
From the very beginning, just after the war, ethnic minorities first came from the Caribbean and then from the Indian sub-continent, until about 1960. But, from 1962 onwards public attitudes towards ethnic minorities have gradually deteriorated. Legislation was introduced to cut down immigration and to promote equal opportunities for ethnic minority communities.
3.3 million Britons are now from an ethnic minority which accounts for 5.5% of the population, but there are numerous differences between the groups in their standards of living, access to opportunities such as jobs, education or housing, as well as in their belief systems, likes and dislikes.
The main ethnic minority groups.
The post war era was determined by the relationships established during the colonial period. On the one hand, the political and cultural links between the UK and former colonies encouraged migration to Britain. On the other hand, Britain's attempts to rebuild its shattered economy and the demand for a cheap labour supply in the 1940's and 1950's drew many more workers from the former British Empire.
The British Nationality Act of 1948 allowed citizens of the Commonwealth to settle in Britain and facilitated a new era in which most of the migrants were "coloured" people.
The mass migrations of the 1950's and 1960's produced close networks of related migrants from particular regionsn of origin.
