Explain Why Recently the Uk Is a Destination of Economic Migrants

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Explain why recently the UK is a destination of economic migrants One of the most high-profile trends of recent economic migration is the higher numbers of migrant workers from the EU joining states Immigration levels in the UK have risen significantly over the past 10 years, driven by sustained economic growth in the UK and the opening up of the labour market to the new EU addition states since 2004. Economic migrant means a person who has left his own country and seeks by lawful or unlawful means to find employment in another country. When Poland and seven other Eastern European countries joined the EU in 2004, the UK received many economic migrants. There were 500,000 workers from Eastern Europe in 2009. The pull factors included wages five times greater than they could get at home. Some come for seasonal jobs, such as vegetable and fruit picking. More qualified migrants may look for medical or education jobs. Economic and labour market factors are major determinants of migration to the UK. Empirical evidence shows that wage and income differentials are the most important drivers of international migration, and the UK is no exception to that rule. People living in poorer countries, migration can be an effective strategy to increase their income and to protect their families from poverty. Economic growth and a structural demand for migrant labour in high- and low- skilled sectors of the British economy are also significant drivers of immigration. More generally, the increasing complexity of labour markets and associated occupational specialisation enhance the need for migration to match supply and demand in certain sectors and occupations. For the UK, increasing income inequality over the past decades is found to play a major role in attracting high-skilled immigrants. Inequality signals high returns to human capital, skills and education, which make

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