The effects of the economic downturn on migration from the New EU Member States to the United Kingdom

Ivlevs, Artjoms; Piacentini, Mario; Upward, Richard

Abstract

The paper studies how the current economic and financial crisis affected migration flows from the new EU Member States (NMS) to the United Kingdom (UK). Using Worker Registration Scheme data, we find a strong correlation between the change in economic conditions at the country of origin and the change in migrant inflows to the UK. The NMS with the highest fall in GDP and the highest rise in unemployment have experienced the highest rise/smallest fall in migrant outflows to the UK. There is no evidence that the diversion of migrant flows has occurred: the falling migrant outflows from the largest NMS sending countries (Poland and Slovakia) to the UK were not matched by the rise in inflows to other EU States.

Citation

Ivlevs, A., Piacentini, M., & Upward, R. (2009, September). The effects of the economic downturn on migration from the New EU Member States to the United Kingdom. Paper presented at COMPAS Annual Conference 2009: New Times? Economic Crisis, Geo-Political Transformation and the Emergent Migration Order, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford, UK

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: COMPAS Annual Conference 2009: New Times? Economic Crisis, Geo-Political Transformation and the Emergent Migration Order
• Conference Location: Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford, UK
• Start Date: Sep 1, 2009
• End Date: Sep 1, 2009
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: migration, recession, EU enlargement, diversion of migrant flows
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/993223