Policy Brief for Cumbria County Council Based on The Home/Work Study.

Transcription

1 PolicyBriefforCumbriaCountyCouncilBasedonTheHome/WorkStudy A two year Economic Social Research Council(ESRC) study examined the roles ofnetworksandmobilityamongstmigrantswhoworkinthesocialcaresectorin Cumbria(careworkers,nurses,anddomestics).Thefindingsrevealedthatthey strugglewithmanyissuesintheircommunitiesandworkplacesthatimpacttheir adjustmentandincorporationintoit.thisbrief,basedontheanalysisofthedata fromtheresearch,outlinessomeoftheseissues,whichneedtobedealtwithin policiesandprogrammes. Migration to the United Kingdom has received ongoing interest from policy makers and the media on issues ranging from the economy and the labour market, to housing, illegal migration, skills deficits, and issues of national security, amongst others. Little attention, however, has focused on rural areas and the processes and impact of migration; even though the influx of persons from outside the UK is a common phenomenon in urban areas, rural communitiesareimpactedtoo.yettheyhavedifferentcharacteristicsandneeds. Migrants may arrive to rural areas through networks of kin or recruitment agenciesandhavedifferentexperiencesthanthosewhoarriveintourbanareas (Chappell et al. 2009). These paths of migration into the countryside are significantforcumbria. In particular, Cumbria has its own distinguishing characteristics whilst also sharing commonalities with other counties. One of the similarities Cumbria shares with other rural areas is increasing diversity, because of the mobility of persons (Milbourne 2007) such as travelers, migrant workers, and persons in their retirement years that wish to reside in quieter surroundings. These increasinginternalmovementsofpersons 1 createspecificneeds,forexample,in the labour market and more specifically in the adult care sector, which is the focusofthisstudy.regardingthelatter,difficultyinemployingthelocallabour force (many of whom leave for greater employment opportunities and education) to care for older adults necessitates the employment of migrant health carers (Cangiano et al. 2009). Through extended networks and recruitment agencies, highly skilled migrants enter the UK and are placed in rural areas, where there is a clear demand. It is estimated that 19% of carers nationallyand35%ofnursesinthecaresectoraremigrants(ibid).therefore, highlyskilledmigrantcarersareneededforthesectorandinthiscaseresidein thebritishcountryside.morespecificallyforcumbria,theelderlypopulationis 1 SeetheCumbriaCountyCouncilEconomicBulletin,March2009forpopulationforecastsaswell ascumbriainfiguresforminoritygroups 1

2 increasing faster than the national average in Britain (Bloomer 2007), making thedemandformigrantcareworkersevenstronger. OneofthecharacteristicsofCumbriaisitsnaturalbeauty,whichactsasapoleof attractionforvisitors.becausethiscountrysideiscloselyconnectedtoasenseof national pride and identity, the existence of migrants, either from inside or outsideeurope,especiallyofdifferentraces,isnotusuallyacceptedaspartofthe norm (Tolia Kelly 2007). One programme called, the Mosaic Partnership, for example, recruits tourists from places like Burnley with the idea that they wouldn tnormallycometothelakes. 2 Yetnewlysettledmigrantswhoresidein Cumbriamaygetignored.Althoughthetouristindustrybringsmanytemporary migrantworkerstocumbria,theirtemporalitydoesnotseemtoaffectthesocial environment of the area, at least from the perspectives of many locals. From conversationswithalibrarianinatouristictownincumbria,itwouldseemthat migrationtotheregionisviewedmainlyasahistoricevent,datingfromthe16 th century, with Nordic populations moving to Cumbria, rather than one that is current. Yet new ethnicities are starting to flourish as a study of Maryport showed, like the growing number of Eastern European families (250) in this town. From Carlisle to Barrow, too, there is an increasing population of immigrants. Researchers and community activists have documented a range of problemsintheseareasfromnon awarenessofschoolpoliciestodirectracism (Bremner 2008, Dhalech 2007). While a report 3 from 2008 suggests that there will be clear declines of immigration nationally, due primarily to the effects of therecession,thistrendmaynottakeplaceincumbria,especiallyinthesocial care sector, where there is a growing demand, especially to compensate for reductions in human and social services which are evident nationwide. At a recent seminar on migration (2009) the speaker, using recent Workers Registration Scheme data, suggested that migrants appeared to be arriving to Cumbriawithoutjobs.YetthedatacollectedfromtheESRCresearchshowedthat participants secured them before they arrived, through recruitment agencies, which may be an indication of either sectoral adaptation or a regional trend. 4 Immigrationpoliciesmayinfacthaveaneffectonthesocialcaresector,ifnon European migrants are recruited to it. It would seem that migration, then, is deeply embedded in to the labour market and that migrants come to Cumbria specifically for jobs, many of which are low paid, in the hospitality and care sectors.theymayreceivenumerousintrinsic,ifnottangiblebenefitsfromtheir 2See: english.co.uk/blog/?p=930 3 SeeCumbriaEconomicBulletinchapter,MigrantLabourinCumbria, Changing Times: Migration and Migrant Labour in Cumbria Dan Bloomer, 6 th CRED seminar, 25/3/09 2

3 work,asparticipantsinthestudyreported,suchaslivinginaquietandpeaceful environment and getting to know nice elderly people. This report, however, details the struggles that the participants faced in their communities and workplaces. Morespecifictothemigrantcarersofourstudy,theyhavefeltdiscriminationin both covert and overt ways. In a small tourist town, for example, a family of migrants who regularly attend church services was approached to ask if they were tourists. These innocent questions did not make them feel welcome, or wanttointegrateintotheircommunity,becausetheirchurchmembershipwas unrecognizable and they were made to feel like outsiders. Two of the participants,inthistown,decidedtomovetourbanareaswheretheycouldbe around other co ethnics, including family. Despite the significant growth of ethnicpopulationsincumbriasince1991(bloomer2007,2009),theseformsof covert discrimination in the community illustrate a general non awareness of diversityamongstcumbria sresidents.inthecommunity,asmentioned,ithas been assumed that migrants will be residing in the area for a short period of time, with regular questions asked of them, about their length of stay. Another example,isaskingthosemigrantsfromcountrieswhereenglishiscommonplace, such as the Philippines, South Africa, and India, if they had just learnt English becausetheiraccentswerenotperceivedtobethesameascumbrians.inother cases, racism was exhibited overtly; an example here is the harassment of a young,asianmaninatownincumbria.hewasridiculedforcarryingbagswith potentially explosive material, and was viewed as a terrorist threat. Another incidentheexperiencedwasharassmentonpublictransport;whilsttravellingby train,thepersonsittingnexttohimsuggestedthathereturntohis owncountry. This young man, a carer in a care home, had been so traumatized by these experiencesthatheavoidswalkinginthestreetonhisownandpreferstotakea taxi to his workplace, which is within walking distance. This way, he does not havetointeractwithpeopleinpublic.whileheisavictimofdiscriminationand intimidationinthepublicsphere,heishighlyrespectedandvaluedinhisprivate workplace.althoughtheseareextremecasesofdiscriminationandintimidation in the public sphere, the need for public awareness about ethnic diversity is obvious. The fear of travelling in and around the community can act as a real barrierformigrantsandleadtosocialexclusion. Further examples of persons being discriminated against have occurred at participants workplaces. Here, discrimination is both overt and covert. Overt discriminationhasbeennotedwhencolleaguesandelderlyresidentshavemade racistremarks,havebeensingledoutasanethnicgroupforpunitivereasons,or told they don t speak English when they simply have an unfamiliar accent.one participant mentioned that she has been harassed for being a foreigner (is of white European origin) and her colleagues have made remarks against her appearance;theparticipant sinitialthoughtwastogotohermanagerforhelp, 3

4 butwhenthemanagerdidnotofferconcretesuggestionstoher,shedecidedto assert herself and use her authority as a nurse to gain respect amongst her colleagues. She had to act alone. In another case, a participant (from non Europeanbackground)mentionedthatsomeelderlyclientsaccusedherandher compatriotswhentherewereproblems.thecarerrecalled: somepeople,oneto twoofthemareracist theyharassusforsillythings ifsomethinggoeswrong with the residents.[they are] pointing at us once in a while. Another participant (from a non European background) reported that a resident was discriminatoryandbehavedinademandingandoffensivemannertowardsher. She drew on her professionalism to care for this difficult client, but had suppressedherangerinthemeantime.still,inanothercase,abritish borncarer wrongly accused a participant in the study of engaging in criminal activities, a casewhichwasinitiallyignoredbyhermanagerandsubsequentlywastakento court,whereshewasacquitted;the witness statedthattheaccusedcarercould not communicate well in English and therefore broke the law. Another carer who threatened to leave the company because of being mistreated was told by hermanagerthatshewas bought fromtherecruitmentagencyandhadtostay. The above examples illustrate overt discrimination. However, the participants havealsoexperiencedcovertdiscrimination.forexample,theymaybeaskedto work more unsociable hours than their British colleagues and do tasks that others rejected. They felt this was due to an assumption by their British managers and colleagues that, because they were migrants they were more willing to do more work to get more money, and would subsequently be more flexible and compliant. The migrant carers, on the other hand, viewed this assumptionasdiscriminatory.theyalsodidnotfeelthattheyreceivedthesame respect for the services they provided for their companies. In effect, migrant carerswereexpected,althoughnottoldto,offer extracare toclientssincethey wereregardedbytheiremployersasbeingabletoworkharderthantheirbritish counterparts and should be grateful for the work. These highly skilled migrant workers,however,useddifferenttacticsforgainingcontrol,albeitlimited.this ranged from asserting authority to emotionally disengaging from abusive situationswhentheywerediscriminatedagainst.theydrewontheseindividual strategies because they found it hard to seek support, either from inside the workplaceorfromthecommunity. Availability of housing and affordability have also been issues for migrant care workers in Cumbria. One of the participants mentioned that she had to seek support from a family of long established migrants in the area to find accommodation through an agency (they had to vouch for her). But after she moved in and became pregnant with her second child (her first being of very youngage)wasaskedtomovetoanotherpropertybytheagency,withoutbeing forewarned, or having it made clear that the terms of the contract would not allowhertohavetwochildren(onebeingababy).again,thissituationputher 4

5 andherfamilyinaveryvulnerableposition,especiallywhensherecentlyarrived to the area, was in a sensitive health condition and lacked support and information from community agencies. It didn t help that at work, she was accused of not alerting management that she was pregnant and was not complying with company policies. In another case, a manager actively discriminatedagainstagroupofnon Europeancarerswhochosetolivetogether ashousemates,andviewedthemassuspectsandtroublemakersratherthanas people who were accruing supports from their networks, for which the communitywasdeficient.thissameemployerdiscriminatedagainsthismigrant employeesaccordingtotheirnationalities:thepolishcarersappearedtobetoo blunt with clients, while the Filipinos were viewed as bad drivers and could cause car accidents. These stereotypes were damaging to the extent that they shaped the employees treatment in the workplace. Yet the employers, as community members too, represented popular viewpoints and asserted these insensitivecommentsasifeveryone,includingtheresearchers,agreed. Morespecificallyforthosewhoweredomiciliarycareworkersandthusneeded to travel for their work, examples of exploitation arose in participants stories aroundcars.forexample,theymentionedthatthecoststheyneededtotakeon personally for maintaining a vehicle for work purposes was difficult, especially withtheirlowwages(hoveringaroundtheminimum).onegroupofcarershad been asked to pay expensive car insurance through the company (even when they could pay less through another insurance agency), take on technical maintenanceaswellaspayforfuelupfront,gettingreimbursedmuchlaterand leavinglittlecashonhand.oneagencyexpectedthemigrantworkerstotakeon allthefinancialcostsinvolvingintakingdrivinglessonsandtests,despitehaving aninternationallicensewhenfirstarrivingtotheukandnotbeinginformedof extracostsfromtheirrecruitmentagencyandinthebeginningoftakingonthe posts.thealternativeinthissituationwastowalkortakeataxitoseetoclients andagainpayontheirownforthesecostsandendurepoorweatherconditions. Finally, a few cases have been discussed of participants needing to pay fraudulent training agencies large amounts of money for training not received and being threatened by deportation if they did not pay these high costs. The managersoftheircompaniescouldnothelpthemandthe students hadnoright ofappeal.theyturnedtonumerousagenciestohelpthem,buttheywerelimited in what they could do. Here we can see that migrant carers are vulnerable to exploitationthroughtheiremployersandrecruitmentandtrainingagencies. Finally, our participants have mentioned the social isolation they experience in terms of recreation, where little opportunity is offered to attend social events andvisitvenueswithoutthepressuretodrinkalcoholastosocializewithothers. In some cases, participants have mentioned that because of the very few opportunitiesforrecreationandsocializing,theyareisolatedintheirownhomes andviewonlytheirworkplacesandhousesorflatsasspacestosocialize.inthis 5

6 respect,theyarefacingsocialexclusionandasaresultplacegreatimportancein theirwork,leavingagainlittlechanceforthemtoenjoycumbrianlife. Aspartofasmallersub study,sixnewcomermigrantswereinterviewedduring a 12 month period, in These participants illustrated many of the issues mentioned above, and oftentimes more noticeable, because they were recent arrivals and needed more assistance. Structured face to face interviews were given every 3 months, four times during the year to understand their adjustment to their communities and workplaces. We discovered that many of themdidnotuseanypublicservices,includingculturalones.thelibraryinternet service in one town was considered to be accessible but too expensive ( 2 an hour) whilst other libraries were closed too often. The NHS was not viewed as offeringgoodservices,oratleastwhatwasexpectedbythem.transportwasa big problem, with people purchasing second hand cars on loans from their companies, having them break down and lose them due to the high costs of repairs.bustransportwasnotviewedasaccessible.subsequently,someofthese carers lived near their workplaces and were seen by their employers to be oncall,walkingoverwhenevertheyweredemanded. Recommendations We discovered that incorporation in to Cumbria s towns and villages was slow and uneasy but that there were signs of changes. Through our research in different areas within Cumbria, we have been in contact with Cumbria Multi Cultural Service and informed about the support they provide in Cumbria to Black and Minority Ethnic communities. Their sponsorship of a women s network, community forum, and working in partnership to stop hate crime are important interventions that set the groundwork for policy development on migrantsincumbriaandaddtotheexistingworkofthecouncil.suchservices and initiatives allow for the support and advice for migrants who are facing various problems adjusting, whilst simultaneously bringing people together in their communities. They are a good organization to raise public awareness to Britishcommunitymembersaboutissuesrevolvingaroundmigration,language differences,andrace/ethnicity.cumbriasectoralliancecumbriahasalsomade efforts to reach out to migrant carer workers, for example by sponsoring, with othercollaborativeagencies,aninnovativeesolcommunicationcarecoursein the workplace. Likewise, Migrant Workers Northwest has campaigned for migrant care workers employment rights in the Northern region, including Cumbria, and helped to educate employers about immigration laws as well as establish improved employment practices. The Gangmasters License campaign (inlondon)willalsoensurethattheseemploymentpracticesareobservedand 6

7 enforced 5.Moreserviceswithasimilarscopewouldbeimportantinreachingout to more migrant communities to prevent social exclusion from the Citizens AdviceBureau,tothePoliceDepartment,tounions,librariesandschools allof which can collaborate with one another to share resources and information as opposedtoworkingalone.again,asillustratedintheexamplesabove,mostof the migrant carers did not use, or rarely used any of these services and had to dependoneachotherandthemselvestoacquiresupport.sometimestheywere successful but many times they weren t. Since tackling discrimination for race/ethnicity, gender, language, and other forms, both overt and covert, is a complexendeavoritisimportanttoestablishaclearstrategyondealingwithit intheworkplaceandinthecommunityondifferentlevelsandthroughdiverse formal and informal means. Once migrant services in agencies are established, spreading news about them through migrants networks (word of mouth) will assist in their greater usage by this population. For those who are isolated, however,othermethodsofcommunicatingaboutserviceswouldbeimportantso thattheyareinformedofsuchavailablesupport,andthiscouldhappenthrough workplaces, Facebook, ethnic language newspapers and leaflets and other written/electronic forms. Most importantly, migrant workers need to inform servicestoensuretheyareadequatelymeetingpeople sneedsandthattheyare beingused. Wealsodiscoveredthatethnicstoresincommunitieswereimportantinbuilding informalresourcesandsupportsformigrants,andtheirincreasedawarenessby ethnic groups, where migrants could afford ethnic products and where they wouldbeabletosocializewithothers,aswellasreceiveinformation,wouldbe important. Another recommendation would be to increase ease of access to libraryservicesbyloweringthecostofinternetfacilities,asthelimitednumber of computers and the cost to use the online facilities make communication difficult forcontactingfutureemployers,tofamilyabroad,toreadingthenews inothercountries. Throughourcontactwithmigrantcarersandcommunityservices,itwouldseem thatmigrant/ethnicpopulationsarefacingdiscriminationinallspheresofpublic lifeandintheirworkplacesandareinneedofcommunityandnationalsupport tointegrateandenjoyciviclife,astheyoffertheirservicesandcareethictosuch a vital sector of welfare for the general population. Increased awareness of support available and information for them would assist in breaking down the barrierstosocialexclusionincumbria sincreasinglydiversecommunities. References 5 SeeOxfam sreport,whocares? 7

8 Bloomer D. (2007) Demographics in Cumbria powerpoint presentation, available from (accessedon11/2/10) Bremner,M.(2008).Maryport,WestCumbria,&EastEuropeanMigrantWorkers (mainlylithuanian,slovakian,polishandczech).reportforthecumbriaequality &DiversityPartnershipandCarlisleDiocese:Carlisle. CangianoA.,ShutesI.,SpencerS.andG.Leeson(2009)Migrantcareworkersin ageing societies: Research findings in the United Kingdom. ESRC Centre on Migration,PolicyandSociety(COMPAS),UniversityofOxford:Oxford. Dahlech.M.(2007).MappingofadviceandsupportneedsinCumbriaformigrant workers.voluntaryactioncumbria:penrith. Chappell L., Latorre M., Rutter J. and J. Shah (2009) Migration and rural economies: Assessing and addressing risks, Economics of Migration Working Paper6,InstituteforPublicPolicyResearch(IPPR):London. CumbriaCountyCouncil(2009), SupportforSociallyExcludedGroupsand Individuals Multi CulturalService p(accessedon11/2/10) Milbourne P. (2007) Re populating rural studies: Migrations, movements and mobilitie,journalofruralstudies,vol.23,pp Tolia Kelly D. (2007) Fear in Paradise: The Affective Registers of the English LakeDistrictLandscapeRe visited,sensesandsociety,vol.2,no.3,pp ThereportwaswrittenforEqualityOfficer,JoelRasbashbyGeorgiaSpiliopoulos andsondracuban. Formoreinformationaboutthereportortheproject,pleasecontact: Dr.SondraCuban LancasterUniversity,D71 CountySouth BailriggLA14YD 8