Census surprises
The National Census was conducted three years ago but from time to time revelations of certain findings from the survey continue to amaze most of us. Only the other day many in the Indian community were surprised that more Sikhs and not the seemingly affluent and equally hard-working Gujaratis and other Hindus own homes. The finding was that while 82 per cent Sikhs were likely to be homeowners only 74 per cent of Hindus owned homes. There could be many reasons for this.
The Sikhs were a major segment of the earliest immigrants to this country. They worked hard and had very few social ambitions. The house prices were really low, for instance a family bought a two-bedroom house in the '30s for just £600. Its value today is £150,000.
The immigrants who came in the '60s from India just before visa restrictions were imposed, and later in the '70s from Africa had to compete to build their future. They also found Indians already settled here enjoying social status.
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