Impact of immigration on the labour market is exaggerated
IMMIGRANTS are better-educated than their UK counterparts and less likely to be in social housing, research from the London School of Economics revealed yesterday. The study from the Centre for Economic Performance follows a speech from Labour leader Ed Miliband last week in which he argued that worrying about immigration should inform policy more.
The study concludes that immigration to Britain has risen in recent years and there may have been modest increases in competition for low-skilled jobs, but “the evidence for the UK labour market suggests that fears about the consequences of rising immigration have been exaggerated”. The authors add: “It is hard to find evidence of much displacement of UK workers or lower wages, on average.”
The findings on housing are most striking of all, with little evidence of extra pressure on the housing system. The analysis showed that even immigrants from developing countries are significantly less likely to be in social housing than UK-born individuals.