What role do young EU migrants really play in the UK workforce?
On Thursday June 23, 2016 the UK’s voters will decide the nation’s future in the EU. One of the main—and possibly the most contentious—issues in the debate over whether Britain should remain centers on migration and the principle of free movement within the EU.
Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention—concerned with UK media coverage little based on fact—have undertaken to contribute evidence to the debate by studying the levels of young people migrating to the UK from across the EU and elsewhere, their qualifications, and what kind of jobs they do when they arrive.
Thees Spreckelsen and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser’s research finds that young EU migrant citizens are well integrated in the UK labor market: they have higher employment rates, work longer, and are less likely to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance than their UK peers.
However, there are clear differences in the pay and conditions they will accept. Wages of young EU migrant citizens from central and eastern European countries are often lower and their work contracts are likely to be more precarious. They are also very often overqualified for the jobs they are doing.
John Kennan has written about the freedom of movement of workers for IZA World of Labor. He recognizes that “[p]roposals to relax restrictions on immigration are generally unpopular,” noting that a “better understanding of the economic effects of free migration would … lessen resistance.” He suggests that “some of the large gains accruing to immigrants could be used to pay for whatever costs are imposed on incumbent workers—for example by levying an income tax surcharge on recent immigrants.”
Amelie F. Constant has written for us about the effect migration has on native workers’ jobs, an area covered in Spreckelsen and Seeleib-Kaiser’s research. She argues that: “Whether high- or low-skilled, migrants rarely substitute directly for native workers. Instead, migrants often complement native workers or accept jobs that natives don’t want or can’t do,” thereby minimizing skill shortages. They may also “create new jobs by increasing production, engaging in self-employment, and easing upward job mobility for native workers. The presence of immigrants increases demand and can spur new businesses to open, creating more jobs for immigrant and native populations.”
The main findings of Spreckelsen and Seeleib-Kaiser’s research can be found over at The Conversation, and their Working Paper can be read in full here.
Related articles:
Freedom of movement for workers, by John Kennan
Do migrants take the jobs of native workers?, by Amelie F. Constant
Do immigrant workers depress the wages of native workers?, by Giovanni Peri
Circular migration, by Klaus F. Zimmermann