Tales of Migration

‘Tales of migration: citizenship, benefits and identity in Brexit Britain’

Following the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, the topic of migration from other EU countries and free movement has been highlighted as critical and policy-relevant. The debate has also reflected concerns about an overstretched welfare system and alleged benefit tourism. But who are the EU migrants living in the UK, who will arguably be among those most immediately and directly affected by the outcome of the referendum? How have policy changes discussed in the run-up to the referendum already changed EU migrants’ entitlements, and how might this affect their economic contribution to the British economy? What coping strategies do EU migrants themselves envisage as the UK leaves the EU? In order to address this evidence gap, research has been undertaken by the Centre for Population Change to provide an independent source of information and insight about UK-EU relations.

The research projects cover six key topics:

• Characteristics of EU migrants and their binational partnerships
• Welfare state and provision of benefits to native and foreign population
• Citizenship and strategies of EU migrants post-Brexit
• Impact of immigration policies and effects of controlling immigration
• Impact of migration on host countries’ wellbeing and happiness
• The effects of the economic crisis on the earnings of the native British population and EU migrants

Video podcasts

Policy roundtable

The evidence generated by researchers at the University of Southampton informed a high-profile roundtable chaired by Hilary Benn MP (Chairman of the House of Commons 'Exiting the European Union Select Committee'), which was held in the Palace of Westminster on 24th April 2017.

The policy roundtable ‘Tales of migration: citizenship, benefits and identity in Brexit Britain’ addressed the above key topics to inform and stimulate discussion amongst three stakeholder audiences namely policymakers (specifically MPs, Home Office and DExEu), EU and Non EU migrants and practitioners and third sector providers (such as the Migrants Rights Network, Institute for Public Policy etc).

Discussants included:

Jakub Bijak -Associate Professor of Demography within Social Statistics & Demography at the University of Southampton

Jane Falkingham OBE – Professor of Demography and International Social Policy, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton and Director of ESRC Centre for Population Change

Alan Manning – Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics , Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, Director of the Centre for Economic Performance’s research programme on Community

Derek McGhee , Professor of Sociology and Director of the Keele Institute for Social Inclusion

Jonathan Portes , Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King’s College London

Meet the Researchers

"Who is a typical migrant in the UK today?"

Professor Jane Falkingham OBE

Jane is Professor of Demography and International Social Policy, Dean of the Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton and Director of ESRC Centre for Population Change. Demographic change and its consequences for the distribution of social and economic welfare is a consistent theme throughout all her research.

Dr Athina Vlachantoni

Athina is Associate Professor in Gerontology within Social Sciences: Ageing/Gerontology at the University of Southampton. Her research interests broadly combine the areas of ageing, gender and social policy.

"Can migration be fully controlled?"

Dr Jakub Bijak

Jakub is Associate Professor in Demography within Social Statistics & Demography at the University of Southampton. His research interests focus on the methods for dealing with the uncertainty of demographic phenomena, in particular surrounding migration and the demography of armed conflict.

"Should EU migrants get benefits after Brexit?"

Dr Paul Bridgen

Paul is Associate Professor in Social Policy within Sociology at the University of Southampton. Much of his most recent work has been on pension policy and politics. He also has longstanding interests in the more general politics of policy-making.

Professor Traute Meyer

Traute is Professor of Social Policy within Social Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her work contributes to comparative welfare state research in Europe, and it explores in particular the role of private agents as social policy players in European pension regimes.

"How much are UK migrants worth?"

Dr Héctor Calvo Pardo

Héctor is Reader in Economics at the University of Southampton. His research interests lay in the interplay of expectations and information in individual behaviour under uncertainty, as applied to the stock market, firms in international trade and migration. The analysis of coordination pitfalls in financial markets: causes and, consequences for the macroeconomy.

"Does migration make us happy?"

Dr Corrado Giulietti

Corrado is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Southampton, where he is also an Associate Researcher within the ESRC Centre for Population Change. The focus of his research is the study of the economic determinants and effects of migration.

"Will EU migrants stay or leave the UK after Brexit?"

Professor Derek McGhee

Derek is Head of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton. His current research interests involve the impact of migration on Polish families in the UK, the focusing on education, migration locations, access to social housing, managing family relationships at a distance and accelerated life course transitions amongst younger Polish migrants in the UK.

Meet the Partners