EEDA - East of England Development Agency

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Research

Since the publication of EEDA's report 'Migrant workers in the East of England' in 2005, there has been an increase in research and policy activity across the UK in relation to migrant workers and their impacts.

Research has especially focused on the economic contribution of migrant workers; numbers, flows and trends, migrants' qualifications, skill levels, employment and service provision.
 

Migrant workers longitudinal study

Length of stay and barriers to participation and inclusion are critical issues for the East of England which has benefited from the inflow of European citizens from A8 countries. To maintain its economic buoyancy, it will need to continue to attract workers to the region as well as manage community relations.

The longitudinal study will focus on the perspective of migrant workers in regard to:

• factors that influence migrants' decisions on migrating and length of stay in the UK
• barriers to full participation in the regional economy
• barriers to social inclusion in the local community.

The study will examine how these perspectives change over a period of time and will show how changes in public policy are influencing or affecting these decisions. It will therefore also:

• make recommendations for how perceived barriers can be addressed by EEDA and partners
• highlight trends that can be used to assist with planning service provision and understand future labour availability
• evaluate trends, policy implications and service issues.

The findings at the end of the first year of the study are available here
 

Migrant workers and economic risk

The Commission for Rural Communities report 'A8 migrant workers in rural areas' (January 2007) suggested that "some rural economies would become vulnerable to a 'big hit' should there be a sudden reversal in the influx of migrant workers from the A8 countries." 

EEDA commissioned the Institute of Public Policy Research (ippr) to assess the extent to which businesses and public services in the East of England have become dependent on the availability of migrant labour and the potential risk they face should the availability of migrant labour fall in the future.

ippr's research reveals the nature of migration to the East of England, the experiences of migrant workers and their economic impact in the region. It also considers the possible effects of recession and future scenarios of changing patterns of migration.

Click here to read the full report

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