Muslims in UK most deprived: Report

They are more likely to be jobless and poor as compared to Hindus and Sikhs.

Muslims in UK are more likely to live in poor conditions and remain unemployed as compared to other religious minorities, says a research published on Monday.

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Researchers from universities of Derby, Warwick, Biringham and Oxford have found that half of English Muslims over the age of 25 are not involved in the formal labour market and a third live in the most deprived areas of the country.

They added that Muslims are also particularly vulnerable to long-term illness and experience poor levels of education.

"Taking the Muslim population as a whole, they face some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation," the report said.

The government office in charge of local government and communities commissioned the academics to review data on the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities.

The report said members of the Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities were likely to remain concentrated in the same areas because families want to stay close together and may prefer to live near to their places of worship.

A government spokeswoman said that the academics had 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, the spokeswoman said.