Skip to main content

Financial Times:
Academic research cuts through Theresa May's immigration claims

6 October 2015

In her address to the Conservative party conference, the home secretary delivered a pointed speech saying that ''there is no case, in the national interest, for immigration of the scale we have experienced over the last decade''. But are her claims supported by academic research? ... Although immigration increases the number of people living in the UK, it is up to the government to decide whether to build more infrastructure and housing. A 2014 study by Diego Battiston shows that, while immigrants are slightly more likely to live in social housing, the main reason why Britons find it hard to find places is the scarcity of property. A 2012 paper by Charlotte Geay presents evidence that, prima facie, the proportion of non-native English speakers in a year group has a detrimental impact on the educational attainment of native speakers at the end of primary school. However, this impact is modest and reflects factors including that immigrant children tend to go to less prestigious schools. Finally, in 2012 Jonathan Wadsworth showed that immigrants in the UK tend to use GP services and hospitals at roughly the same rate as the native born population, and are just as likely to self-report poor health.

This article was published by the Financial Times on October 6, 2015
Link to article here

Related publications
'Immigration and the access to social housing in the UK', Diego Battiston, Richard Dickens, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1264, April 2014
'Non-native speakers of English in the classroom: what are the effects on pupil performance?', Charlotte Geay, Sandra McNally and Shqiponja Telhaj, Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.137, March 2012
'Musn't grumble. Immigration, health and health service use in the UK and Germany', Jonathan Wadsworth, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1166, September 2012
'The impact of immigration on the structure of male wages: Theory and evidence from Britain', Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.754, October 2006
The impact of immigration on the structure of wages: Theory and evidence from Britain, Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth, Journal of the European Economic Association, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp120-151, February 2012.

Related links
Marco Manacorda webpage
Alan Manning webpage
Sandra McNally webpage
Shqiponja Telhaj webpage
Jonathan Wadsworth webpage
Community Programme webpage
Labour Markets Programme webpage
Education and Skills Programme webpage

Read more... Financial Times