Post by Focus on Jun 13, 2013 9:52:02 GMT
* Male migrants in UK have reversed pre-crisis shortfall in employment
* They are now doing better than men who were born in the country
* Male migrants have had higher level of employment since 2007
* Figures feature in the OECD's 420-page International Migration Outlook
* Report also found that the UK and Germany are the biggest recipients of migrants fleeing
countries most affected by the financial crisis
Male migrant workers have found it easier to find employment than 'native-born' men since the economic downturn, an international think-tank has found.
A higher percentage of foreign-born men have been in employment since 2007 despite a drop overall, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
While the employment rates of British-born men have fallen since 2001, the situation has improved for migrants, as foreign-born men have reversed a pre-crisis shortfall in employment and are now doing better than men who were born in the country.
The OECD's International Migration Outlook 2013 has shown how 'foreign-born' men have had higher levels of employment than 'native-born' men since 2007
The findings feature in the Paris-based think-tank’s 420-page International Migration Outlook report for 2013, which also reveals that in 2011, total permanent immigration rose in the 34 OECD countries from 2010.
Looking at whether the financial crisis reversed progress made by migrants over the past decade, the report said: 'Despite a decline in their employment rates during the crisis, male migrants in the United Kingdom had higher levels of employment than native-born men from 2007 onwards.'
It went on: 'In half of the OECD countries, migrant men have an employment advantage relative to native men.
'In the majority among them this advantage has been further strengthened in 2012 relative to the pre-crisis levels, except in Italy, Estonia and Portugal.
'In countries such as the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Poland, the situation has improved for migrants.
'The foreign-born men have reversed the pre-crisis shortfall and are doing now better than native-born men.'
The report suggests 'foreign-born' men have reversed a pre-crisis shortfall and are now doing better than men who were born in the country. File picture shows migrants workers in a field at a farm in Lincolnshire
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: 'It is time for a thorough assessment of the impact of immigration on the employment of British workers that this report only touches on.
'The effects may not show up statistically in a labour force of nearly 30 million but the anecdotal evidence is very strong.
'What is clear is that British-born workers have hardly benefited at all from the expansion of employment in the last ten years or so.'
But Don Flynn, director of Migrants’ Rights Network, which campaigns in support of migrants in the UK, said: 'OECD findings should allay fears that migration has unacceptable negative impacts on the economies of developed countries.
'With a high level of male migrant participation rates in economic activity and an upward trend in earning levels the evidence shows migration is a dynamic and positive feature of modern economies and ought to be acknowledged as such.'
While the UK has seen a drop overall in employment since the financial crisis, male migrants have had higher levels than 'native-born' men (file picture)
The report also found that the UK and Germany are the biggest recipients of migrants fleeing countries most affected by the financial crisis, particular in southern Europe, with numbers almost doubling in recent years.
It added that outflows of nationals from these countries are speeding up, with movements having risen by 45 per cent from 2009 to 2011 and early data suggests this increase is continuing.
Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: 'The OECD data on labour markets make very interesting reading.
'It is important to recognise that migrants are not one homogenous group, and that different sorts of migrants have been affected differently by the economic downturn.
'Two things stand out, the first is that there is a big gender difference - foreign-born men have seen less of a decline in their employment rate than UK born men between 2008 and 2012, but the employment rate of foreign-born women has seen a bigger decline than that of UK-born women in the same period.'
Looking at Romania and Bulgaria, which will see access restrictions to the UK labour market lifted at the end of this year, the report draws a number of conclusions.
In Romania, the OECD said migration data is limited with officially registered emigration likely to capture only a small fraction of outflows.
This is significant because there has been a prolonged debate in the UK over providing estimates of the numbers of Romanians likely to arrive in the UK next year.
The report found that the UK and Germany were the biggest recipients of migrants fleeing countries most affected by the financial crisis (file picture)
The UK Government has so far refused to provide official estimates as ministers believe they would not be reliable.
In Bulgaria, the OECD pointed to a National Public Opinion Institute study which found that 12 per cent of Bulgarians surveyed planned to emigrate one restrictions on free movement to the EU were lifted. This is the equivalent of 876,000 of the population.
Looking at the education sector, the report also found that the UK is one of six countries where international students are over-represented among the universities and other higher education institutions when compared to the number of foreign-born persons in the population.
But the report concluded that the take-up of social benefits by immigrants relative to native-born households in the UK is lower than the average seen in all OECD countries, across all types of benefits.
What a disgraceful state of affairs - This is Britain and jobs should go to British people first and foremost, otherwise there is no hope for our and our children's future!! - Fx