Migration, New Arrivals and Local Economies

Transcription

1 Local Economy, Vol. 22, No. 4, November 2007, EDITORIAL Migration, New Arrivals and Local Economies STEPHEN SYRETT* & MICHAL LYONS** *Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University, London, UK **London South Bank University, London, UK Migration is part of a transnational revolution that is reshaping societies and politics around the globe (Castles & Miller, 1993, p. 5). While processes of insertion, assimilation or integration involve transformations of migrants social, economic and cultural capital (Sassen, 1998), their integration is uneven and often incomplete (Soysal, 1994). Critically, whilst the drivers of migration may be related to global processes of economic and political change, the experiences and impacts of migration are strongly local. In this issue of Local Economy, we attempt to make some sense of the rapidly increasing and changing migration patterns in terms of their impact upon local economies and the policy challenges that result. The contributions here focus on the case of the UK, with experience too from Canada, and seek to provide a better understanding of the relationship between changing local economies and changing migrant streams, to begin to map out the local economic policy issues and emerging policy responses related to enterprise and labour market integration. New Migration Patterns: Structures and Agency Globalization, inequalities, uneven development, changing markets, changing political systems, and improvements in communications together Correspondence Address: Stephen Syrett, Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, Hendon, London, NW4 4BT, UK. s.syrett@mdx.ac.uk ISSN Print/ISSN Online/07/ ß 2007, LEPU, South Bank University DOI: /

2 326 Stephen Syrett & Michal Lyons have contributed to a continued flow of international migrants all over the world during the past 50 years. At the end of the 20th Century, migration rates were estimated to be growing at 2 per cent per year, even when counting only registered ( formal ) and permanent migrants (Castles & Miller 1998). In 2002, approximately 175 million people were estimated to be living outside their country of birth (UN, 2002). Many of the flows are toward more developed economies. The immigrant stock has grown strongly in North America and, particularly Western Europe, where annual growth has been estimated at 3 5 per cent over the period By the turn of the Century, approximately 60 per cent of people who lived outside their country of birth resided in more developed countries (UN, 2002). The total volume of South to North migration has grown particularly rapidly over the past 40 years. Previously mainly from South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, migration from sub-saharan Africa has increased rapidly in recent years. In addition, following political change and instability, since 1989 about 15 per cent of the population of the western Balkan countries has been involved in migration, circa 10 million people, of whom 5 million have moved permanently (Baldwin-Edwards, 2004). The widening of the EU to the east has been followed, inter alia, by rapid migration to the west from the so-called A8 countries (namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The nature of migration has also evolved during the period, with temporary migration, repeat migrations, and migration among a series of destination countries, increasingly common. At the same time, the very forces triggering and speeding-up processes of change in migration destinations across the globe are creating fundamental transformations in destination urban and rural localities. The major cities of the North have evolved increasingly polarised labour markets (Sassen, 1998) characterised by turbulence and instability at the lower end of the job market (Buck et al., 2002), increasing labour-market informality (Watt, 2003), and increasing gentrification and segregation of urban space (Marcuse & van Kempen, 2000; Malheiros, 2000). The processes and impacts of labour-market insertion in these changing contexts have become the focus of political and academic debate. New arrivals work across all elements of these labour markets in response to labour market shortages; from high skilled and professional occupations through to difficult to fill low grade, low pay and unattractive jobs. In the latter case, migrant workers often come to dominate locally in certain sectors hotels, catering, manufacturing, care work, construction creating a new migrant division of labour and a series of associated social and political challenges (May et al., 2007). Whilst an understanding of the structures of opportunity for migrants is of critical importance, there is a need to move away from describing migrants as victims towards understanding migration as a highly dynamic and

3 Editorial 327 active process. As de Haan & Rogaly (2002:2) argue with regard to their work on rural labour migration: Labour mobility has historically been a predominant way of managing risk. This is in line with Portes view that the scope of much sociological research had become erroneously restricted to those mechanisms through which individuals attempt to cope with an apparently unchangeable structure of opportunities distributed unequally in space (Portes, 1981, p. 280 our emphasis). In seeking to explain the insertion of migrants into local economies and labour markets it is clearly important to recognise how opportunities are shaped by the role of employers, recruitment agencies, regulatory frameworks and social attitudes. Yet viewing migrants as agents focuses attention on their ability to negotiate workplace and business hurdles and, in policy terms, on how best they can be supported in processes of economic integration. The changing modes of negotiation within local economies are an important focus of articles in this volume, whether through personalised strategies to overcome barriers to employment (Green; Pattni; Young), or through self-employment and enterprise (Lyons; Lyon et al; Swash) as an alternative strategy that affords new arrivals with a degree of autonomy in relation to exploitative workplace relationships, hours worked and reliance on public benefits. In addition, the development of support networks within even short-term migrant groups is a further means to confront power inequalities with customers, employers and authorities. Characteristics of Recent Immigration to the UK The UK has witnessed a notable increase in its migrant population over the last 20 years. One important element in this growth was the rise in the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from the mid 1990s, although from 2003 the number of asylum seekers fell as a result of government deterrence measures. More recently, the key element of growth has centred on economic migrants from the EU, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe following EU enlargement. However, accurate estimation of migrant flows is problematic, particularly as large-scale data are limited to registered migrants and to particular moments in the migration process. Issues of data availability and reliability are apparent in many of the papers in this volume. In particular, the paper by Coombes et al. offers analysis of the local incidence of migration flows of A8 migrants across England using the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) dataset, to provide insights and discussion into the possibilities and limitations of such statistical datasets. The scale and pace of change combined with differences between migrant groups and their migratory processes, means there is much that is not known or fully understood about recent immigration, its relationship to local economic development and its longer term consequences.

4 328 Stephen Syrett & Michal Lyons However, the papers in this volume combined with an emerging body of research work, do identify a number of key elements that characterise the recent phase of immigration: Increased Diversity The increasing diversity of migration origins and trajectories is associated with increasing population diversity within local communities and in the range of migrant communities. Most traditional migrant receiving areas within major cities are becoming increasingly diverse, with new arrival communities being established from more and different points of origin. This is particularly notable within London, which remains the principal destination for immigration and where it is now estimated there are populations from 179 countries, 42 of which number 10,000 and over (GLA, 2005). However, alongside such areas of what Vertovec (2006) terms superdiversity, new arrivals have also extended into urban and rural areas, which traditionally have had little or no experience of migrant communities. This diversity in migrant groups produces significant differences in terms of their skills, linguistic abilities and cultures, as well as in their motivations and aspirations and the duration of migratory stay; all of which have profound implications for understanding the local experience of the migration process. The manner in which population diversity plays into local economic processes is a theme evident in many of the contributions: whether in relation to the experiences of temporary migrant Colombian and Polish pedicab drivers (Lyons); the enterprise activities of different refugee groups in London (Lyon et al.); the different spatial patterns of A8 migrants (Coombes et al ); or particular policy initiatives operating in highly diverse urban communities (Swash, Pattni). Uneven Geography Related to the issue of increased diversity are the distinct spatial patterns associated with new arrival populations. The limitation of current secondary statistics means our knowledge here remains limited. As Anne Green details, the new arrivals of the 1990s, which included a large component of asylum seekers, particularly located within London and Kent, and the resulting pressure on services led to attempts at dispersal to northern conurbations. In contrast, patterns of labour migration from 2003 reflect the importance of flows from the A8 European Union accession countries. Mike Coombes et al. demonstrate that spatial patterns here are driven primarily, but not only, by movement towards areas experiencing tight labour market conditions, producing a distribution that extends beyond traditional urban centres of in-migration to include smaller urban centres and rural areas.

5 Editorial 329 Distinct spatial patterns present different local challenges. For areas with little tradition of new arrival populations, there is a need to confront new issues related to economic integration and social cohesion and adapt existing services and ways of working, often in a short space of time. For highly diverse areas there are particular challenges related to public service provision, integration and cohesion, which range from understanding the particular economic, social and cultural dynamics of highly diverse populations, through to the practical issues of how to engage and deliver policy to such a highly diverse population (Vertovec, 2006). That place matters is clearly recognized in the report by the Commission on Integration and Community Our Shared Future (2007). This focuses upon the unique qualities of different localities influenced by a range of factors including the history of migration and settlement, levels of poverty and wealth, de-industrialisation and sectoral change, and the current profile of the population which combine to produce differing local challenges unsuited to national one size fits all policy solutions. Attitudes, Discrimination and Prejudice An important constraining factor underlying much of migrants experience is popular opinion and related discriminatory attitudes and practices. As Zolberg (1981) noted some 25 years ago, attitudes to international migration are frequently characterised by a tension between liberal attitudes and resentment of migrants by the host society. Critically, such prejudice is translated into barriers to labour-market integration for legal, as well as informal migrants, by people on permanent, as well as short-term migrations, and by migrants in a wide range of UK destinations, as the papers in this volume demonstrate. In the case of refugees, poor labour market outcomes are not reducible to an absence of skills and experience. In order to circumvent discrimination and unfair treatment, such groups rely on ethnic and cultural ties to gain employment in secondary and informal labour markets and to develop enterprises. Differing attitudes towards immigrant groups are also evident in the treatment of Colombian and Polish pedicab drivers noted by Michal Lyons, and in the growing evidence that Eastern European labour migrants are preferred to British workers by some employers due to a perceived stronger work ethic (Dench et al., 2006). Working Below Skill Levels A characteristic that has emerged repeatedly across a wide range of studies (e.g. Anderson et al., 2006), and is supported by evidence presented in these papers, is that migrant workers are frequently employed in jobs that require considerably lower skill levels than they possess. This may be the result of a lack of UK work experience, limited linguistic capabilities, problems of recognising qualifications, lack of information, or as previously discussed, discrimination. As Anne Green notes, the

6 330 Stephen Syrett & Michal Lyons importance of this is that migrants existing skills are not fully utilised and their economic contribution is not maximised. The contributions by Emma Stewart, with regard to doctors in Scotland, and Melina Young, in respect to high skill migrants in Toronto, consider initiatives that have sought to tackle this issue for highly skilled workers through schemes that recognise qualifications and develop appropriate social networks and work experience. Difficulties of Economic Integration and Worklessness The principal barriers to labour market participation for new arrivals are the focus of Anne Green s paper. Green identifies constraints related to English language skills, recognition of qualifications, information and knowledge to navigate the labour market and employer attitudes, as of particular importance. For certain new arrival groups there are particular problems associated with high levels of worklessness. As Fergus Lyon et al. observe, refugee groups experience higher levels of unemployment in comparison with the working age population, despite their skills and experience. The article by Illa Pattni specifically describes the impact of an initiative centred on tackling perhaps the most talked about of these barriers to integration, that of limited English language abilities, through an intensive programme combining language training with employment support. In the face of such barriers, for some new arrival groups, entry to employment is achieved through recruitment into secondary and sometimes informal employment, concentrated within often highly competitive, labour market niches. This can trap migrant workers into low grade, low wage employment and exploitative relationships which perpetuate problems of poverty and deprivation. In the development of self-employment and business start-ups new arrival groups experience particular constraints. As Fergus Lyon et al. identify, barriers relate to problems of securing finance and investment, developing appropriate marketing and business development strategies, obtaining relevant information and advice, as well as those relating to uncertainty over longer term residency status. This analysis also demonstrates that barriers can be internally, as well as externally imposed, given reluctance by some new arrivals to break out of ethnic niches and to engage with public sector support provision. Tony Swash describes how community-based enterprise support can begin to overcome some of these barriers, by building up trust and providing appropriate advice and information. Policy Context The dominant UK policy discourse concerning immigration and economic development has been to emphasise its role in promoting national

7 Editorial 331 economic competitiveness. A policy approach of managed migration seeks to improve national economic competitiveness through using the migration process to address skill deficiencies and fill labour shortages (Home Office, 2005). This approach focuses on the positive economic contribution of immigration to economic growth, including beneficial impacts related to expanding the labour supply to enable employment growth, reducing upward pressures on wages, and the payment of taxes by migrant workers which exceed the value of the public services received (Home Office, 2005; TUC, 2007). However, the wider economic case put forward by national government often fails to engage with the complex and rapidly evolving characteristics of migration previously discussed. Whilst migration policies are normally formulated at the national level, the everyday points of contact with migrants are strongly localised. The considerable evidence that the economic capacities of current new arrivals are often underutilised as a result of barriers to labour market integration and enterprise development has resulted in localities and cities beginning to develop a variety of policy interventions that have tried to improve the economic integration of migrants. These range across initiatives that promote access to education and training, English language support (Illa Pattni), recognition of qualifications (Emma Stewart), acculturation to the labour market and use of internships and mentoring to better integrate highly skilled migrants (Melina Young), and building social and community capital and supporting entrepreneurship (Tony Swash). What these interventions demonstrate is that a degree of support related to varied individuals needs can be effective in helping gain entry into the labour market or develop business activity. They also demonstrate major differences in approach, for example in activities that focus upon a work first approach to labour market integration, to those that prioritise training and sustainable employment. More widely, new migrant communities can bring vitality to certain sectors and local areas and new possibilities for economic development, based upon trading and investment opportunities provided by international linkages, innovation relating to the interaction of different cultures, and the attraction of visitors and investment to distinctive ethnic quarters within diverse cities. However, to date, local initiatives related to these issues remain sporadic and underdeveloped. Yet a narrow focus only upon the wider economic case for migration serves to ignore the tensions inherent in the pursuit of current immigration policy. The uneven spatial development of migration means there are highly diverse local experiences of the process. There is for example emerging evidence that within some local economies immigration is creating strong competition for entry level jobs, which makes it more difficult for the least competitive in the labour market (i.e. those with few if any skills) to gain access to low wage employment (Green et al., 2007; Gordon et al., 2007; North et al., 2007). A recent TUC report (2007, p. 5) also acknowledges the existence of anecdotal evidence that jobs may be

8 332 Stephen Syrett & Michal Lyons lost and wages depressed in certain specific sectors of the economy, and calls for further primary research on this issue. Tensions also exist with regard to enterprise development among new arrival communities. Lyons et al. note the low value added nature, poor employment conditions and high displacement costs of much of this activity, which is focused within sectors with low barriers to entry. The length of stay of new arrivals is a further example of where the complexities and changing nature of immigration is not adequately recognised by current national policy positions. Although national UK policy views migrants from the A8 countries only as temporary migrants, there is emerging evidence that, as is common within the migratory process, some of these migrants who initially intended only a temporary stay are choosing to remain for longer periods of time, or indeed permanently (Spencer et al., 2007; Ryan et al., 2007). Confronted by the scale, pace and diversity of current UK immigration, a rationale for policy intervention based purely on a narrow case of promoting national economic competitiveness is increasingly problematic. The focus on the local and regional consequences for economic development quickly demonstrates the need to confront not only the barriers to labour migration integration and enterprise development but also issues of social justice and community cohesion and the impacts of new and expanding migrant groups on the development of existing norms and structures. Economic integration has a central role to play in relation to promoting social inclusion and community cohesion and recognition of this fact needs to be central to the development of local economic policy. Challenges for Policy Delivery The policy challenge is however not only one of clarifying the rationale for policy and its subsequent development but also, critically, of delivery. There are a number of delivery challenges that are particularly apparent when seeking to reach and engage with new arrival groups as Green and Lyon et al. observe. These relate to a lack of trust in state agencies by many new arrival groups and a lack of knowledge of their rights and what support is available, which often results in limited, or indeed no, engagement with existing provision. Effective interventions, whether they relate to language development, as detailed in the Language2Work initiative by Pattni, or business support, as discussed by Swash in Islington, London, demonstrate the development of a strong engagement element to their activities. They also exhibit a more personalised style of delivery, one that is sensitive to their clients needs in a holistic manner a type of delivery that is often difficult to achieve through mainstream support services. Important within this is recognition of the need for ongoing support as needs develop over time, for example in relation to skills development, if certain migrant groups are not to become

9 Editorial 333 locked into low grade employment, or in a stepped approach to encouraging the formalisation of business activity. Such approaches also need to be locally rooted, to reflect the particularities of the local population mix and the employment and business opportunities that exist within local economies. However, targeting resources in a locally sensitive and intensive manner clearly raises issues related to the amount of resource available, equity across different groups, and the capacities of local agencies from the public, private and voluntary and community sectors to deliver integrated and coordinated provision within what is a highly fragmented institutional context (North et al., 2007). Towards Further Debate This special issue seeks to provide a starting point for a more informed and critical debate relating to the local and regional consequences of the increased scale and diversity of migrant flows. Whilst this issue focuses upon recent UK experiences, the global nature of the processes under consideration means that analysis needs to share understanding and practice from countries of the developed and developing world. Furthermore, there are a host of important themes that the contributions in this issue have been unable to consider, for example the economic impacts of high skill and high wage migrants, the gender dimension of economic integration, or the assumed relationship between increased diversity, competitiveness and innovation, to mention but a few. What is apparent is that the pace of change and limited available data means there is much that is only poorly understood and perspectives and understanding from different disciplines are required to fill these knowledge gaps. However, it is also evident that there is a wealth of existing policy and practice expertise in relation to improving the economic and social integration of new arrivals, which has developed over time and across different spatial contexts. It is hoped that future issues of Local Economy will provide a forum for an ongoing and expanded discussion of the issues related to migration, new arrivals and processes of local economic development introduced within this special issue. References Anderson, B., Ruhs, M. & Spencer, S. (2006) Fair Enough? Central and East European Migrants in Low-wage Employment in the UK (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation). Baldwin-Edwards, M. (2004) Immigration into Greece, : a southern European paradigm? In: National Bank of Belgium How to Promote Economic Growth in the Euro Area, Brussels, May 2000 (Geneva: Switzerland). Buck, N., Gordon, I., Hall, P., Harloe, M. & Kleinman, M. (2002) Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London (London: Routledge). Castles, S. & Millar, M. J. (1993) The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World (New York: The Guilford Press).

10 334 Stephen Syrett & Michal Lyons Castles, S. & Millar, M. J. (1998) The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World (New York: The Guilford Press). Commission on Integration and Cohesion (2007) Our Shared Future (London: Commission on Integration and Cohesion). De Haan, A. & Rogaly, B. (Eds) (2002) Labour Mobility and Rural Society (London: Frank Cass). Dench, S., Hurstfield, J., Hill, D. & Akroyd, K. (2006) Employers use of migrant labour, Home Office Online Report 03/06 (London: Home Office). GLA (2005) London the world in a city: an analysis of the 2001 census results, Data Management and Analysis Group Briefing (London: Greater London Authority). Gordon, I., Travers, T. & Whitehead, C. (2007) The Impact of Recent Immigration on the London Economy (London: LSE and City of London). Green, A., Jones, P. & Owen, D. (2007) Migrant Workers in the East Midlands labour market (Nottingham: EMDA). Home Office (2005) Controlling our Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain (London: Home Office). Malheiros, J. (2000) Urban restructuring, immigration and the generation of marginalized spaces in the Lisbon region, in: R. King, G. Lazaridis & C. Tsardanidis (Eds) Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe (London: Macmillan Press). Marcuse, P. & van Kempen, R. (2000) Globalizing Cities, a New Spatial Order (Oxford: Blackwell). May, J., Wills, J., Datta, K., Evans, Y., Herbert, J. & McIlwaine, C. (2007) Keeping London working: global cities, the British state and London s new migrant division of labour, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 32, pp North, D., Syrett, S. & Etherington, D. (2007) Devolution and Regional Governance: Tackling the Economic Needs of Deprived Localities (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation). Portes, A. (1981) Modes of structural incorporation and present theories of labour immigration, in: M. Kritz, C. B. Keely & S. M. Tomasi (Eds) Global Trends in Migration (New York: Centre for Migration Studies New York Inc). Ryan, L., Sales, R., Tilki, M. & Siara, B. (2007) Recent Polish migrants in London: social networks, transience and settlement, ESRC Research Report (Swindon: ESRC). Sassen, S. (1998) Globalization and its Discontents, Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money (New York: The New Press). Soysal, Y. (1994) Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe (Chicago: Chicago University Press). Spencer, S., Ruhs, M., Anderson, B. & Rogaly, B. (2007) Migrants Lives beyond the Workplace: the Experiences of Central and East Europeans in the UK (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation). TUC (2007) The Economics of Migration (London: TUC). UN (2002) Migration Report (New York: United Nations Population Division). Vertovec, S. (2006) The emergence of super-diversity in Britain, Working Paper no. 25, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Oxford: University of Oxford). Watt, P. (2003) Urban marginality and labour market restructuring: local authority tenants and employment in an Inner London borough, Urban Studies, 40(9), pp Zolberg, A. R. (1981) Migrations in political perspective, in: M. Kritz, C. B. Keely & S. M. Tomasi (Eds) Global Trends in Migration (New York: Centre for Migration Studies New York).