Geopolitics, History, and International Relations Volume 3(2), 2011, pp. 9–33, ISSN 1948-9145
THE ASSIMILATION OF IMMIGRANTS INTO THE BRITISH LABOR MARKET ELENA PĂUN
[email protected] Hyperion University ELENA BOGAN
[email protected] University of Bucharest ABSTRACT. Scholarly research reveals strong correlations between the functions of East European migrants in the UK labor market, recruitment and employment of labor migrants, the social role of migrants, the potential human capital of immigrants, and the emergence of a new European migration system. The mainstay of the paper is formed by an analysis of the role and impact of contemporary immigration, the relationships between immigration and labor-market change, the role of free movement and migration in regional integration processes, the new networks of international migration, and the twin processes of global economic restructuring and increased migration. Keywords: immigrant, migration, British labor market, regional integration process
1. Introduction This paper seeks to fill a gap in the current literature by examining labor migration policy as a tool for economic steering, the potential social impacts of labor migration, the positive effects of migration on productivity and growth, and the economic impact of migration. The theory that we shall seek to elaborate here puts considerable emphasis on the changing geography of migration, the relation between international migration and labor market change, the fluidity of migration outcomes, the spatial practices used by employers to source migrant labor, and the social institution of migration channels. Our paper contributes to the literature by providing evidence on the role of immigration status, the economic virtues of immigration, the management of immigration, the emergence of London’s new migrant division of labor, and the structural position of migrant workers in London’s low-wage economy. 9
This study is grounded in the considerable body of scholarship examining the developmental potential of migration, the economic potential of migration and development, the emergence of increased rates of immigration in the context of the new immigration regime, the role of employer demand in shaping state immigration policies, and the impact of immigration on training and workforce development. Our analysis complements the growing literature on the economic impact of immigration, the effective use of immigration as a strategy for economic development, the dynamics of London’s changing migrant division of labor, and the role of migrant labor in contemporary capitalism. 2. The Functions of East European Migrants in the UK Labor Market Favell states that intra-EU migration among West European countries has risen slightly over the 30-year period: both higher- and lower-status migrants from the East are attracted by the West. East European migrants are regional “free movers,” and the European migration system is the most evolving and changing context of migration in the developed world. “The paradigm of immigration and integration, in particular, becomes redundant in the face of the emergent, regional-scale, European territorial space. Within this, European citizens – old and new – can move freely against a wider, transnational horizon that encourages temporary and circular migration trends, and demands no long-term settlement or naturalization in the country of work.”1 McCollum and Findlay investigate labor user and provider perspectives on Eastern European migration to the UK (Eastern Europe has become one of the principal source regions of migrants to the UK): migration channels may change as the socially constructed needs for migrant labor alter and as the social practices associated with employing migrant labor evolve. Recruitment practices are located at the nexus between employer images of the ideal worker and the self-regulating action of migrants. The nature of labor migration will be continually produced and reproduced by the social interactions of migrants, employers and recruitment agencies. The nature of migration channels is not merely a function of economic forces.2 Datta contends that the actuallyexisting and everyday cosmopolitanisms of East European migrants in London indicate that national space remains valid for the cosmopolitan project (there has been a large inflow of East European migrants entering low-skilled work in the construction sector in London). Datta writes that migration to London during the 20th century was dominated by those from the Commonwealth. The impact of an increasingly flexible global labor market in London has seen a rise in migrants from across the world. The most significant impact on the migration from Eastern Europe into the UK has been the accession of A8 states to the EU.3 10
3. The Emergence of London’s New Migrant Division of Labor Wills et al. explore the nature of contemporary immigration and its role in labor-market change in the UK, focusing on the developments of deregulated employment and increased population mobility (the economic experiments pioneered in the UK in the 1980s have increased rates of national and international migration). Migration is one of the most critical challenges facing the world, international migration increases as workers move to fill the jobs created by the subcontracted global economy, and in times of recession, tensions with migrants are likely to mount. “The emergence of large numbers of foreign-born workers at the bottom end of London’s labor market is better understood as an unintended consequence of labor-market policies implemented by both Conservative and New Labor administrations during the 1980s and 1990s, and of the relatively lax immigration regime in the early years of New Labor government.”4 Wills et al. outline the evolution of London’s migrant division of labor (it has long been a magnet for international migration): a relaxation of immigration policy in the late 1990s opened the doors to a supply of potential workers. Immigration status has been critical in creating London’s new migrant division of labor, London’s low-wage labor market is dependent on an immigrant labor force that is differentiated from locals through immigration control, whereas the hierarchical immigration regime has created a corresponding hierarchy of migrant labor supply (immigration law has created new lines of segmentation that are now a key factor in allocating workers to jobs). Wills et al. put it that improving job quality may reduce the demand for migrants much more than increased immigration control (today’s immigration takes place in the context of significant potential supplies of locally available labor). Immigration status is a key determinant of labor-market position and prospects, intersecting with enduring ethnic and gender divisions of labor. Patterns of ethnic segmentation in London reflect subtle differences between different groups of migrants (immigration status creates important lines of differentiation within a national and/or ethnic group). What is important here is that migrants are now differentiated by skill when they enter the UK. The introduction of a managed migration regime has introduced a line of demarcation within London’s migrant workforce. Migration is a strategy for surviving and coping with the vagaries of life (migrants move from one country to another in order to make improvements to their lives). Wills et al. hold that migrant communities are affected by their location in the wider socio-economy. The migrants doing low-paid jobs in London face significant challenges in relation to work and wider society (they have considerable agency to respond to the challenges facing them). Migrant workers from an extraordinary range of backgrounds are located at the bottom end of the labor market. Migrants favor collective and political organization 11
as a means of challenging their situation. The connections that contemporary transnational migrants sustain are unique in their density and flexibility. As this discussion suggests, for Wills et al., both the volume of skilled migration and its relative share of international migration flows are increasing. The UK government’s immigration and labor-market policies will impair the synergies between migration and development. London’s migrant division of labor is characterized by workers from a plethora of different countries (global cities like London have benefited immensely from migrant labor). The twin processes of deregulation and international migration have raised tensions and divisions between migrant groups, and between migrants and the wider society. Wills et al. reason that the workers embodying London’s migrant division of labor are organizing to respond to the conditions of their employment (the migrant division of labor is constituted by workers from a super-diversity of different locations). The British government has sought to manage migration in the national interest. The UK’s low-wage economy has created the conditions in which migrant workers have become a perfect labor supply. International migration has been stimulated by the nature of economic development in poorer parts of the world. 4. The Economic Potential of Migration and Development Anderson explores UK employers’ and host families’ perceptions and attitudes to employment of migrant domestic workers (labor migration in the UK is increasingly perceived in terms of employer demand): “race,” nationality and immigration status interact to give migrants a particular place within the labor markets for home care. In the UK, migrants are often in jobs that might be classed as precarious work. Immigration status in its many variations affords employers some benefits, and gives employers additional means of control over workers.5 Drinkwater et al. note that there has been a huge influx of EU8 migrants to the United Kingdom since EU enlargement. Recent EU8 migrants overwhelmingly work in low paid-low skilled jobs. Most recent EU8 migrants have found low paying jobs in the United Kingdom.6 Dickens and McKnight examine the situation of immigrant workers in Great Britain (the experience of immigrants is very heterogeneous). Immigrant workers tend to face disadvantage in the labor market. Wages of migrants are typically lower than those of native workers.7 Vignoles et al. provide evidence on the current value of basic skills in the UK labor market, focusing on the link between basic skills and labor market outcomes. The value of basic skills in the labor market has remained remarkably stable since the 1990s. Literacy and numeracy skills are a valued form of human capital in today’s UK labor market (men and women have different patterns of work in the labor market).8 Li and Heath focus on the role 12
of education on labor market attainment: the minority ethnic groups will have more favorable outcomes in the labor market as the time goes on. “Labor migrants in particular will often have relatively low levels of education and other forms of human capital and, on this account alone, would be expected to fill low-level jobs or to be engaged in small businesses.”9 Dustmann and Weiss maintain that the majority of migrations are temporary rather than permanent, providing some evidence for the UK. Many migrants return back home mainly during the first half decade of being in the host country (return propensities differ across different immigrant communities and between immigrants of different ethnicities). Permanent migrations occur when, over an immigrant’s lifetime, the benefits of migration are always larger than the costs (appropriate assessment of immigrant performance has to take into account return migration and its possible effects on estimation). Return migration affects the performance of immigrants when they go back home. For a migration to take place, benefits must initially be higher than costs. Accordingly, if, despite a large wage differential, preferences for consumption in the home country (relative to the host country) are strong, no migration will take place. Permanent migration occurs if at the end of the migrant’s lifetime, benefits are still higher than costs. […] Return migration may be triggered either by higher preferences for consumption in the home country, or high purchasing power of the host country currency in the migrant’s home country, or by accumulation of human capital in the host country in a learning by doing way that improves productivity back home.10
Coombes et al. claim that A8 labor migrants did not show a significant tendency to go to labor shortage areas: there is a distinct tendency for A8 migrants to go to areas with higher employment rates (migration patterns related to local labor supply bottlenecks in complex ways).11 Reed and Latorre assess the impact of migration on the UK labor market: there is no evidence to suggest that migration has any substantial negative impact on either wages or employment (there may be a small positive impact on either or both of these, or no impact at all).12 5. Conclusions Over the past decade, there has been increasing evidence describing the driving forces of international migration, the nature of outward migration, the scale and diversity of emigration, the process of change driven by new immigration, and the immigration status of workers. Although researchers have discovered some important findings regarding the social impact of im13
migration from Eastern Europe, the politics of mobility and migration, cultural dynamics of migration, and the practices of migrant recruitment, there is still a great deal that is unknown and that requires further empirical inquiry. The results of the current study converge with prior research on cultural geographies of migration, the increase in immigration from the EU accession countries, the assimilation of immigrants into the British labor market, and the process of convergence between migrants. REFERENCES 1. Favell, Adrian (2008), “The New Face of East–West Migration in Europe,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34(5): 706. 2. McCollum, David, and Allan Findlay (2011), “Employer and Labor Provider Perspectives on Eastern European Migration to the UK,” CPC Paper 14. 3. Datta, Ayona (2009) “Places of Everyday Cosmopolitanisms: East-European Construction Workers in London,” Environment and Planning A 41(2): 353–370. 4. Wills, Jane, Kavita Datta, Yara Evans, Joanna Herbert, Jon May, and Cathy McIlwaine (2010), Global Cities at Work: New Migrant Divisions of Labor. LondonNew York: Pluto Press, 57. 5. Anderson, Bridget (2007), “A Very Private Business: Exploring the Demand for Migrant Domestic Workers,” European Journal of Women’s Studies 14(3): 247– 264. 6. Drinkwater, Stephen, John Eade, and Michal Garapich (2009), “Poles Apart? EU Enlargement and the Labor Market: Outcomes of Immigrants in the United Kingdom,” International Migration 47(1): 161–190. 7. Dickens, Richard, and Abigail McKnight (2008), “Assimilation of Migrants into the British Labor Market,” CASE Paper 133. 8. Vignoles, Anna, Augustin de Coulon, and Oscar Marcenaro-Gutierrez (2011), “The Value of Basic Skills in the British Labor Market,” Oxford Economic Papers 63(1): 27–48. 9. Li, Yaojun, and Anthony Heath (2008), “Minority Ethnic Men in British Labor Market (1972–2005),” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 28(5/6): 232. 10. Dustmann, Christian, and Yoram Weiss (2007), “Return Migration: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the UK,” British Journal of Industrial Relations 45(2): 246–253. 11. Coombes, Mike, Tony Champion, and Simon Raybould (2007), “Did the Early A8 Migrants to England Go to Areas of Labor Shortage?” Local Economy 22(4): 346. 12. Reed, Howard, and Maria Latorre (2009), “The Economic Impacts of Migration on the UK Labor Market,” IPPR 6. © Elena Păun, Elena Bogan
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