Immigrant Labour Market Assimilation and Arrival Effects: Evidence from the UK Labour Force Survey

Abstract

We estimate models of earnings and employment outcomes for a sample of white and non-white male immigrants drawn from the Labour Force Survey between 1993 and 2002. Two hypotheses are investigated: (i) whether immigrant outcomes assimilate towards those of natives and (ii) whether labour market conditions at time of entry to the UK labour market have a permanent impact on outcomes. We find positive earnings assimilation for all immigrant groups and strong employment assimilation for those immigrants who complete their education in the UK. We find negative employment assimilation for South Asian immigrants who completed their education overseas. There is some evidence of unemployment rates at time of entry to the labour market causing permanently lower earnings for non-white immigrants.