According to the census, 39% of Muslims live in the poorest areas of England and Wales Islam

Campaigners called on politicians to act against the “circular cycle of poverty” that has engulfed British Muslims for generations. latest population census shows that 39% of Muslims now live in the poorest areas of England and Wales.

The share of people who identify as Muslim has grown by 1.2 million in 10 years, bringing the Muslim population to 3.9 million in 2021, the census shows. Overall, Muslims now make up 6.5% of the country’s population England and Wales, up from 4.9% in 2011.

As the Muslim population began to disperse from urban centres, the latest census revealed a worrying correlation between the worst deprived areas and the percentage of Muslims.

Overall, the data showed that 61% of Muslims in England and Wales live in the 40% lowest deprived areas of the country. Only 4% of Muslims live in the least deprived fifth of England and Wales.

“We are already the second or third generation [of Muslims]. There are more of us here. Yet we are still caught up in these cycles of poverty and deprivation,” said Zara Mohammed, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Great Britain (MCB). “I think part of it has to do with the socioeconomic conditions where people live and the economic opportunities that are available.”

This growth in the Muslim population is due to a younger population born in this country, people of the second and third generations, according to MCB.

Mohammed added: “I think there’s really something to be said for what our politicians and politicians are doing to help those who are really suffering. There are all these stereotypes and tropes surrounding Muslims, but the reality is that people are actually in a cycle of poverty. And they need to be broken.”

As in the 2011 census, Tower Hamlets had the highest percentage of the population who identified themselves as Muslim in England and Wales. Over the past decade, the Muslim population has increased by 1.9 percentage points and now accounts for 39.9% of the local population.

Eastern on Tuesday London At the mosque, which is located in Tower Hamlets, locals gathered for Zur, the midday prayer. The mosque was a snapshot of modern Britain, where people of different ethnicities came together to pray.

Sufia Alam, head of the Maryam Center and Programs at the East London Mosque, said: “I have worked in this area for almost three decades and it is one of the poorest in London and even in the country. Despite being both an affluent and a poor area, Canary Wharf is on our doorstep. The [census data] not surprising due to the large number of factors we have often discussed: Islamophobiacultural biases that exist, racism in institutions from education to employment.

“I remember saying the same thing during the 2011 census, nothing has changed.”

The Maryam Center, where women pray at the mosque, has a long history of supporting older Muslim women in finding work and affordable childcare. But more recently, the center began to see a greater need for support from young Muslim women as well.

“They get motivation in schools and colleges, but when they go to university, it’s a completely different game,” Alam said. “We have counseling services at the Mariam Center and we get a lot of young people who really struggle with that balance because there’s not that sense of belonging. At school they are educated, they understand the culture and the community, but when they leave, at university, it’s a completely different game.

“And then moving into the workplace, the prejudices they experience are really complex. Their parents really expect that ‘you are well educated, you should be in top positions’, but the reality is different.”