Local-level immigration and life satisfaction: The EU enlargement experience in England and Wales

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. The 2004 European Union enlargement resulted in an unprecedented wave of 1.5 million workers relocating from Eastern Europe to the UK. We study the links between this migrant inflow and life satisfaction of native residents in England and Wales. Combining the British Household Panel Survey with the Local Authority level administrative data from the Worker Registration Scheme, we find that higher levels of local immigration were associated with a decrease in life satisfaction among older, unemployed and lower-income people, and with an increase in life satisfaction among younger, employed, higher-income and better educated people. These findings are driven by the initial ‘migration shock’ – the inflows that occurred in the first two years after the enlargement. Overall, our study highlights the importance of local-level immigration in shaping the life satisfaction of receiving populations. We also argue that our results help explain the socio-demographic patterns observed in the UK Brexit vote

What do unions do in times of economic crisis? Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Over the last two decades, trade union membership in Central and Eastern Europe has been in continuous decline, and unions in the region are generally considered weak. However, little is known about the actual relevance of trade unions for individual workers in the post-socialist world. We explore the role that unions played in protecting their members from the negative effects of the global economic crisis. Using data for 21 post-socialist countries from the Life in Transition-2 survey, we find that union members were less likely than comparable non-members to lose their jobs during the crisis. This beneficial effect of union membership was particularly pronounced in countries which were hardest hit by the crisis. At the same time, union members were more likely to experience wage reductions, suggesting that unions were engaged in concession bargaining. Overall, our results challenge the common view that unions in the post-socialist countries are irrelevant

Beyond conflict: Long-term labour market integration of internally displaced persons in post-socialist countries

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. The break-ups of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were accompanied by some of the worst military conflicts in modern history, claiming lives of thousands of people and forcibly displacing millions. We study how people displaced by war and conflict within these countries fare on the labour market in the long term – 10 to 15 years after their displacement. Our conceptual framework draws on the theory of cumulative disadvantage and the notion of unemployment 'scarring’. Data come from the Life in Transition II survey, conducted in post-conflict, post-socialist countries in 2010 (n = 10,328). Multiple regression analysis reveals a significant long-term labour market disadvantage of forced displacement: people who fled conflict 10–15 years ago are more likely to be long-term unemployed, experience a recent job loss and work informally. We also find that people affected by conflict (both displaced and non-displaced) are more willing to acquire further education and training. These results are not uniform across demographic groups: displaced women consistently experience a greater labour market disadvantage than displaced men, and people affected by conflict in the younger age group (18–34) are particularly keen to acquire extra education and training. Overall, our results highlight a long-lasting vulnerability of the forcibly displaced in developing and transition economies, and advance the emerging literature on the effects of internal displacement on labour market outcomes and human capital accumulation. We also discuss how forced internal displacement extends the theory of cumulative disadvantage

Understanding apprentice pay: Final report

This is the final report from a study of apprentice pay in the UK. It uses a mixed methods approach. Econometric analysis of the Apprentice Pay Survey and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings confirms findings of previous reports that the apprentices are more likely to be paid below the minimum wage than other workers, and that this is most likely to occur when they move into the second year of an apprenticeship.The study also carried out interviews with apprentices, trainers and employers in the hairdressing and childcare sectors. Apprentices rely strongly on others to provide any information about wages. Whilst we did not find any evidence of deliberate underpayment, there exists a 'low pay culture' and strong power dynamics in the examined sectors which mean that there are very weak mechanisms for checking for and correcting underpayment.The report recommends that(1) ASHE and the APS be taken as lower and upper bounds for non-compliance estimates, respectively(2) information about minimum wages be targeted specifically at this group(3) the development of a smartphone enabled 'app app' to facilitate wage checking by the most vulnerable apprentice

Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being

© 2014, © The Author(s) 2014. This article is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mediated by differences in dimensions of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, the article finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. In fact, after controlling for differences in satisfaction with security, the results suggest that temporary employees report higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This indicates that an employment contract characterized by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through heightened job insecurity

Understanding apprentice pay: Interim report

This is the interim report from a study of apprentice pay in the UK. It uses a mixed methods approach. Econometrics analysis of the Apprentice Pay Survey and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings confirms findings of previous reports that the apprentices are more likely to be paid below the minimum wage than other workers, and that this is most likely to occur when they move into the secodn year of an apprenticeship.The study also carried out interviews with apprentices, trainers and employers in the hairdressing and childcare sectors. Preliminary results are reported here, which indicate that apprentices rely strongly on others to provide accurate information about whether the correct wage is being pai

Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being

This article is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mediated by differences in dimensions of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, the article finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. In fact, after controlling for differences in satisfaction with security, the results suggest that temporary employees report higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This indicates that an employment contract characterized by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through heightened job insecurit

Measuring non-compliance with minimum wages

Many countries have a statutory minimum wage for employees. There is a strong policy interest in knowing the degree of compliance with the law. Quantitative analysis is ideally suited to this, and many countries have rich datasets for employment research. However, identifying genuine underpayment of wages is not straightforward: data quality, statistical factors and processing errors can all contribute to the under- or over-estimation of the true level of compliance. The impact is exacerbated by the binary ‘yes-no’ nature of compliance.We consider the statistical measurement of non-compliance in the UK. UK minimum wages have been extensively studied, using large-scale high-quality datasets whose characteristics are well understood and whose overlapping coverage allows triangulation of results. We focus particularly on apprentices: a survey of apprentice wages was introduced in 2011, throwing further light onmeasurement issues, even in a purpose-built survey instrument.We identify several problems leading to under- and over-estimation of compliance rates. Some are well-known statistical or methodological issues, but others relate to the way that survey data is processed; this is rarely considered by data users. The binary nature of compliance makes such problems easier to identify and evaluate. In particular, we demonstrate the value of a very detailed knowledge of the data at crucial points in the distribution, and the importance of triangulation for understanding the reliability of estimates.While concentrating on compliance with a statutory minimum wage, the paper has some wider lessons for the understanding the characteristics of large and complex datasets. We also show how the use of quantitative data can be used to effectively target complementary qualitative datacollection

Does poor health affect employment transitions?

This report explores the relationships between poor health and transitions between different types of employment. Poor health is associated with low levels of participation in paid employment and therefore increased risk of poverty. The work experiences of people with poor health have been the subject of limited quantitative research, despite the fact that negative labour market experiences may well be a strong predictor of poverty. This report: • Identifies that self-reported poor health is associated with a reduced propensity to be employed; • Finds those reporting problems with alcohol or drugs are the least likely to be in employment; • Pinpoints that employed people reporting poor physical or mental health are more likely to move from permanent to temporary work; • Ascertains that people reporting poor mental health have a significantly increased likelihood of moving from full-time to part-time work; • Recognises that qualifications can play a role in mitigating the negative impact of poor health on labour market transitions, but cannot overcome them altogether