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Immigrant integration on the labour market in the United Kingdom
Carmen Munteanu - Communications Coordinator
17 June 2014
The 2000s saw a significant increase in the foreign-born working-age population in the United Kingdom, in part because of the decision to forgo restrictions on the inflow of workers from the new European Union Member States. Starting in 2004, a large influx of labour was seen from Eastern European countries: Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. In this context the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) launched in May 2014 the report "Moving Up the Ladder? Labor Market Outcomes in the United Kingdom amid Rising Immigration".
The report analyzes the labour market integration of recent immigrants to the United Kingdom, based on UK Labor Force Survey data. The report is part of a research project funded by the European Union and conducted in collaboration with the International Labour Office, together with other five case studies on labour market outcomes among immigrants to European Union countries.
The six countries included in the research are: the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The analysis distinguishes between different cohorts based on the year of their arrival in the country. Newcomers—especially those who have arrived since 2000—were far more likely than natives to be in the lowest-skilled jobs. The same applied to new arrivals from within the European Union who were almost three times more likely to be in low-skilled work than natives in 2012.
However, over time all groups showed some progress in moving towards better skilled jobs, and the fact that most new immigrants are educated had an impact upon their employment. Although the economic crisis of 2008 affected employment rates to a smaller extent than in other European countries, the immigrants who arrived in the United Kingdom after 2008 had more difficulty in finding jobs. Newcomers' countries of origin, level of education, and time since arrival influenced the success of their labour market integration and occupational mobility. The report is available here.
Source: http://www.migrationpolicy.org.
The report analyzes the labour market integration of recent immigrants to the United Kingdom, based on UK Labor Force Survey data. The report is part of a research project funded by the European Union and conducted in collaboration with the International Labour Office, together with other five case studies on labour market outcomes among immigrants to European Union countries.
The six countries included in the research are: the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The analysis distinguishes between different cohorts based on the year of their arrival in the country. Newcomers—especially those who have arrived since 2000—were far more likely than natives to be in the lowest-skilled jobs. The same applied to new arrivals from within the European Union who were almost three times more likely to be in low-skilled work than natives in 2012.
However, over time all groups showed some progress in moving towards better skilled jobs, and the fact that most new immigrants are educated had an impact upon their employment. Although the economic crisis of 2008 affected employment rates to a smaller extent than in other European countries, the immigrants who arrived in the United Kingdom after 2008 had more difficulty in finding jobs. Newcomers' countries of origin, level of education, and time since arrival influenced the success of their labour market integration and occupational mobility. The report is available here.
Source: http://www.migrationpolicy.org.
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