Immigration, the European Union and the UK Labour Market

There are now over six million working age adults in the UK who were born abroad. This proportion doubled between 1995 and late 2013: from 8 % to 16%. Immigration has fallen in previous recessions. This did not happen in the latest downturn. European Union (EU) countries account for 28 % of the total immigrant stock. New inflows of immigrants from the EU are now almost as large as inflows from outside the EU. Most EU arrivals are for work-related reasons. Most non-EU arrivals are for study-related reasons. Immigrants are better educated and younger than their UK-born counterparts, especially those from the 15 countries that were members of the EU prior to 2004 (the EU15). The most recent immigrants are better educated still. Around 10 % of all migrants are in full-time education. Immigrants are over-represented in the very high-skilled and very low-skilled occupations. Almost 40 % of all immigrants now live in London. Around 60 % of the working age populations of Brent and Westminster were born overseas compared with less than 3 % of those in Knowsley and Redcar & Cleveland. Immigrants do not account for a majority of new jobs. The immigrant share in new jobs is – and always has been – broadly the same as the share of immigrants in the working age population. There can be economic benefits associated with migration, especially to fill gaps in the UK labour market – where there are shortages of workers. While there may be some small relative wage or employment falls for particular (less skilled) groups, there is still little evidence of an overall negative impact on jobs or wages