Issues and Challenges Faced by Migrant Workers in the UK
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Introduction : Migrant Worker Challenges in the UK
Background
In recent decades immigration had gained a lot of importance and the major trend in immigration is the movement of the peoples from developing countries to the developed nations(Borjas, 2014). In general terms, immigration is referred to as the voluntary or an involuntary movement of the individuals from one nation to another nation(Hollifield, et. al. 2014). There can be a different reason for immigration such as getting an education, working or job, family, natural disaster and many more(Chacon, 2012). The reasons for the immigration are being classified as the economic and non-economic factors which are leading to the immigration and these factors are also contributing to the rising immigration in recent decades(Joppke, 2010). The economic factors which lead to immigration include better job opportunities, a higher standard of living and getting better education as compared to their own nation(Benson, 2013). On the other hand, the non-economic factors include factors such as political factors, riots, natural disaster or family reunification.
Major immigration is being found in the developed nations and the UK is also having a high number of immigrants(Carens, 2013). Peoples from EU nations and also from the entire world are moving to the UK for different purposes(Dustmann, and Frattini, 2011). In the context of the UK, the major reason for immigration is found to be better job opportunities and better education(Dancygier, 2010). The data shows that as a result ofBrexit the immigration for work had decreased and the immigration for the study purpose is increasing significantly and the students from the different nations are immigrating to the UK for study purpose(Kerr, and Kerr, 2011). Along with this the asylum and refugee resettlements is also an important reason for immigration in the UK. Higher immigration to the UK is having a significant impact on the economic factors and labour market of the UK(Czaika, and De Haas, 2013). The statistics reveal that in 2019 the estimated immigrants living in the UK were found to be 6.2 million and in 2020 around 715000 peoples from different nations had came to the UK.
Whenever a person immigrates from their own nation to another one then there are several challenges or the obstacles which are being faced by them. The language barrier is one of the important challenges for the immigrants as they need to communicate with others had for this they need to learn the language(Guruge, et. al. 2015). Other than this the cultural difference is also an important challenge for the immigrants. Also, the challenges include getting employment, getting access to the local services, issues in raising the children, prejudice, isolation, housing and the weather. The challenges which are being faced by the immigrants are having a significant impact on their survival in the country to which they have immigrated(Leinonen, et. al. 2017).
There can be different immigrants based on their reason for which they are moving to another country and nations are having a diverse reason for which the peoples are immigrating(Gee, and Ford, 2011). In the UK the major reason for immigration was found to be work and education for which the peoples are coming to the UK(Adekeye, et. al. 2018). In the present study, the researcher specifically focuses on migrant workers for explaining the different concepts related to the immigration of peoples to the UK. Migrant workers are the one who is living in other nation for working there as they are getting better job opportunities over there as compared to their home country(Zikic, et. al. 2010). In the current study, the researcher focuses on exploring what are the different obstacles which are being faced by the immigrants, especially by the migrant workers.
The major reason behind selecting this topic is that the migrant workers are the majority of the immigrants in the UK and there are limited researches available which explore that what are the issues or the obstacles faced by the migrant workers.For explaining the major issues which are being faced by the migrants' workers in the UK the researcher will focus on analysing the literature review which can help them in evaluating the issues from the viewpoint of different researchers.
Aim
The aim of the present research study is to analyse that what are the obstacles faced by the immigrants especially the migrant workers coming to the UK.
Objectives
To explain the immigration in the context of the UK.
To identify the different challenges faced by immigrants coming to the UK.
To study about the obstacles faced by migrant workers when they come to the UK for the work.
Critically reviewing the literature available on the obstacles faced by immigrants in the UK.
Research Questions
How many immigrants in total are there in the UK and how many migrant workers are coming to the UK?
What are the major challenges faced by immigrants when they are coming to the UK?
What are the obstacles faced by migrant workers when they are coming to the UK?
Literature Review
When the peoples across the world migrate to work in the UK then there are different issues which are being faced by them. Davies, (2018) had conducted research and in which it had mentioned regarding the major issue which is being faced by the migrant workers in the UK. In this article, the researcher had mentioned that labour exploitations in a major issue which is being faced by the migrant workers working in different industries in the UK. According to this study, forced labour is a major type of labour exploitation which is being faced by migrant workers in the food industry of the UK.
Bust, et. al., (2008) had conducted in research and had mentioned in their article regarding the issues which are being faced by the migrant workers working in the construction industry in the UK. The study mentions that with the increased globalisation immigration had increased to a greater extent and now people belonging to different social and cultural backgrounds are working together which lead to several issues. The study mentioned that the communication and language barrier is a major issue which is being faced by the immigrants. The researchers mentioned that the businesses face issues in communicating the information related to the health and safety measures due to which the migrant workers face issues.
Sargeant and Tucker, (2009) had also mentioned in their study regarding the issue of vulnerability of the occupational safety and health for the migrant workers.The study mentioned that the UK being a high-income nation is having a higher number of the migrant workers but they are facing issues related to the occupational health and safety issues as the businesses pay less attention to this issue. In support to this the study of Fitzgerald and Howarth, (2009) had also mentioned regarding the issues of health and safety which is being faced by the migrant workers due to the issue of poor workplace condition and due to lack of proper information sharing with the new migrant workers.
Holgate, (2005) had mentioned in their study that the migrant workers are being paid low and this is one of the major issues which is faced by the peoples working in diverse industries. In this study, the researcher had mentioned that the migrant workers are being paid low and are being employed in the low skilled jobs because of ethnicity which is a major issue as they are being discriminated just because they are from another nation.
Human Right Watch, (2021) had published an article in which they have mentioned regarding the issue faced by domestic migrant workers in the UK. The article mentions that the migrant workers are facing the abuse and are also paid low for their jobs sometimes low then the minimum wages which are being mentioned by the government. The report had also described that the domestic migrant workers are facing the issue of forced labour as well and the report mentioned that the UK government is making fewer efforts for protecting the vulnerable workers especially the migrant workers.
An article Migrants in the UK labour market: An Overview, (2021) had described that unemployment is a major issue which is being faced by the migrant workers in the UK. The graph mentioned below clearly represents how the immigrants face issues of migration based on their reason for migration. Also, it is being mentioned in the article that the migrant men are having better job opportunities as compared to the women migrants. The article also mentioned that thehighly educated migrants are also facing the issue of unemployment and due to which they are working under low or medium-skilled jobs.
Source: Migrants in the UK labour market: An Overview, (2021)
Methodology
The research methodology is termed as the set of different procedures and processes which are being used in the research for collecting and analysing the data for the research study(Kumar, 2018). In the present research study the research methodology used is mentioned below:
Data Collection Method
Data collection is referred to as the way of the methods which are used in the research for collecting the data for the research study. There are two different data collection methods such as primary and secondary data collection methods(Flick, 2015). For primary data collection, the researcher collects the data by his own by conducting the surveys, interviews and observations. On the other hand, secondary data collection is referred to as the practice of collecting the information from the work of literature which is already published in the literature. In the current research study, the researcher focuses on the secondary data collection method and is reviewing the literature which is already published.
For collecting the secondary data for the literature review the researcher had focused on the online sources of literature such as journals, books, and articles for collecting the data from the available literature(Johnston, 2017). The researcher had used the electronic databases and had collected high-quality data. For reviewing the literature the researcher had focused on selecting the research article which had discussed the different issues which are faced by the migrant workers(Booth, et. al. 2016). In the current research the researcher had reviewed seven articles for the study and these articles are being selected on the basis of inclusion and the exclusion criteria set by the researcher which is explained below:
Inclusion Criteria
The research articles published between 2005-2021 are being selected in this research.
The article which is focusing specifically on the UK is being selected in this research study.
Exclusion Criteria
The research article older than the year 2005 is being excluded in this study.
The research articles which are not based on the UK are excluded in the present study.
Data analysis method
The methods which are used for analysing the data are termed as the data analysis methods. It is essential for the researcher to focus on selecting an appropriate data analysis method on the basis of the research questions and thetype of data which is being collected. In the present study as the researcher had collected the secondary data the researcher focuses on using the thematic analysis for analysing the data collected for the research.Thematic analysis is one of the effective data analysis methods which is used for analysing both primary and secondary data. In this analysis, the researcher needs to examine the data and then on the basis of the common themes which are being found in the results the data can be analysed(Clarke, et. al. 2015). This is a simple and effective method for analysing the data due to which the researchers had used this method in the current study.
Epistemological statement
In the present study, the research wants to explore the research topic in detail so that better knowledge can be received regarding the research topic. The researcher believes that while reviewing the literature it is important to collect the articles from a long time span for which the researcher had collected the articles from 2005-2021 which can provide better knowledge related to the ongoing issues faced by the migrant workers in the UK.
Ethical Considerations
Whenever the research is being conducted than it is important for the researcher to focus on different ethical considerations. It is being considered that ethical considerations area crucial part of the research study and the researcher needs to focus on all the important ethical considerations while conducting the research study(Recker, 2012). For developing better accountability, fairness and respect between all the peoples involved in the researcher study or the stakeholders it is crucial to work in an ethical manner and conduct high-quality research. The researcher needs to ensure that the way in which the entire research is conducted is not affecting any of the stakeholders negatively.
In general terms, ethical considerations are referred to as the set of ethical principles and the code of conducts which needs to be taken in considerations while conducting the research study. It can be said that the researcher needs to consider all the ethical concerns which are included in the ethical code of conduct(Carver, et. al. 2011). If the researcher does not focus on the ethical considerations while conducting the research study that it would create a lot of ethical issues which are having a negative impact on the researcher and also on the quality of the research study which is being conducted. When the research is being considered the different ethical considerations which need to be considered by the researcher are explained below such as:
When the literature is being used in the research study that it is important for the researcher to focus on avoiding plagiarism otherwise it can create great issues for the researcher. Plagiarism is referred to occur when the researcher had copied the work for anyone else and had not also mentioned proper reference for the content of others mentioned in their study(Masic, 2012). The researcher needs to focus on writing their own content and if they are taking any data from someone else's research then it is important to do proper referencing and in texting so that the credit can be given to the research for the data which had been collected by them.
When the data is being collected from any of the sources than it is important for the researcher to focus on data protection and to secure the collected data in a confidential manner. Data protection act of 1998 needs to be considered by the researcher while conducting the research and especially while protecting the data collected for the research study.
For the secondary research, the researchers need to focus on paying attention to the accountability of the work which means researcher needs to use the proper referencing style for citing the work of others when any of the information is mentioned form other author or researchers work.
When the primary research is being conducted than the researcher needs to focus on taking written consent from all the research participants and all the important information related to the research conducted on them in already discussed with them and also mentioned in the consent letter.
In the literature review, all the researcher needs to be cited correctly so that ethical violations can be limited to a greater extent.
While reviewing the work of other researchers it is important for the researcher to focus on the privacy and confidentiality of the research participants of the researches which are being reviewed.
In the current study, the researcher had focused on all the above-mentioned ethical considerations which are important to be considered while conducting the secondary research(Ketefian, 2015). The researcher had focused on respect and privacy of all the stakeholders of the research study so that the ethical violations can be limited or eliminated in the present study.
Results
On reviewing the different articles it was being found that there is so single issue which is being faced by the migrant workers in the UK but there isa number of different issues. When an individual is moving from one place to another and then also facing unemployment than it is a major issue. The article mentioned by Migrants in the UK labour market: An Overview, (2021) shows that it is unemployment is being faced by the migrant workers in the UK. When the individual is living in another nation for doing the job and getting better pay and then also the issue remains constant then it is an important issue.On the basis of this article unemployment is an issue for both the migrant workers and also for the UK born also which means that both the groups are experiencing the same issue but unemployment is affecting migrants more as compared to the UK born.
Davies, (2018) had mentioned in their study that the labour exploitations is a major which is being faced by the migrant workers. This is an important issue which is being faced by the majority of the migrant workers working in the different industries such as the food industry, construction industry, manufacturing industry and others as well. In the UK the migrant workers are facing labour exploitation to a great extent and sometimes they are being treated as slaves by their employers. The article of Human Right Watch, (2021) had also provided better knowledge that how the migrants working are facing abuse and forced working who is working as a domestic worker in the UK. The migrants facing all this in a developed nation which is having education level and the high economy is a major issue and it is being mentioned that majority of the migrant workers face the issue of force working even though they are working in diverse industries.
As per the study of Holgate, (2005), the migrant workers are facing the issue of being paid low even when they are highly educated because sometimes they are working in low skilled jobs due to lack of better job opportunities. Pay is the most important thing and getting a lower pay is a major issue for the migrant workers as it also has a negative impact on the living standard as well.
The study of Sargeant and Tucker, (2009) and Howarth, (2009) had described regarding the issue which is being faced by the migrant workers and they had mentioned that the lack of health and safety is an issue faced by the migrant workers. The businesses operating in different industries do not pay better attention to the migrant workers and their safety and due to this,the migrant's workers are working in the worst or poor working conditions which is having a significant negative impact on the health of the migrant workers.
Language is also an important barrier which is an issue for the migrant workers which make it difficult for the employers in conveying some of the important information to the migrant workers. The study of Bust, et. al., (2008) had also discussed the issue faced by the migrant workers in communicating due to cultural and language differences. The study had also mentioned that the employers also face major issues in proving better details to the migrant workers related to the health and safety of the migrant workers while working due to which the migrant workers also face issues related to their safety while working in the workplace.
Data Analysis
Unemployment as an issue faced by Migrant workers in the UK
Unemployment isa major issue for all the developing and developed nations are having a significant impact on the living standard and are the major reason for immigration as the peoples more from one nation to another for getting better job opportunities. Unemployment is an important issue for the migrant workers in the UK as they face difficulty in finding an appropriate job as per their education. The results of the present study reveal that the majority of the migrant workers are facing the issue of employment and due to which they are working in low or medium-skilled. The highly educated migrants are also not having better job opportunities and then they start working in the lower pay and in underemployment for satisfying their basic needs. The research also mentions that the level of unemployment faced by immigrants depends on the reasons for which they have migrated to the UK. Also, female immigrants face a higher impact on unemployment as compared to male immigrants.
Labour Exploitation a major issue for migrant workers in the UK
The majority of the migrant workers are facing severe labour exploitation and this is the most common issue which is being faced by all the migrant workers working in the UK(Ollus, et. al. 2016). The migrant workers have to work for extended working hours and are forces to work which is the common form of labour exploitation. Along with this, the migrant workers are also paid low as compared to the minimum wages which are fixed by the government and sometimes the UK born is paid more for the same job for which the migrant worker is paid less(Moyce, and Schenker, 2018). The migrant workers face the severe issue of racism and they are being exploited on the basis of their race(Lewis, et. al. 2015). Along with this, it is being found that the migrant workers are not provided better workplace for work and they are working in the worst workplace which can increase the risk of diseases. Employers in the UK are not much concerned about the safety of migrant workers(Parutis, 2014). The vulnerability of the occupational safety and health is also important from of exploitation which is being faced by the migrant workers in the UK. Due to lack of proper health and safety measures taken for the safety of the migrant workers, they are facing higher health problems and this is also an important issue(Hacker, et. al. 2015). Along with this some of the employers are not paying better attention to the human rights of the migrant workers and also the government is not having strict rules regarding this due to which the migrant workers face the issue of labour exploitation to a greater extent(Labadi, 2017).
Language barrier as an issue for immigrants
Communication is one of the important which can help the individuals in working with one another and developing better relationships and feeling among one another, but the migrant workers face issues in communicating effectively with other due to language barriers(Lee, et. al. 2014). Due to cultural difference, the migrant workers face the issue of language and this restricts them in communicating with others(Hare, et. al. 2013) and due to this they also face issues in understanding the information which is being provided to them in detail(Sanandaji, 2020).
Conclusion
Immigration had increased to a greater extent in the recent years and the increased immigration is also increasing the issues which are being faced by the immigrants and also to the citizens of the countries in which the individuals are moving. The increased immigration is a result of increasing globalisation and increasing integration among all the different nations. The people from the entire world are migrating to the developed nations for getting a better education or better jobs which can help them in raising their living standards.The UK is having a large population of immigrants from different developed and developing nations across the globe.A major section of the world population is migrating to the UK but there are several issues which are being faced by the migrant workers and the immigrants and for exploring concepts the literature is being reviewed in this research study which had provided better knowledge to regarding this research topic in detail.
The present research had explored what are the major issues which are being faced by the immigrants and especially the immigrant workers. In the present study, it is being found that the migrant workers are facings several issues in the UK. By reviewing the different articles of the literature in the present study it can be concluded that the migrant workers are facing a lot of issues in the UK and the government needs to develop better plans and procedures for addressing the issues of these workers. According to this study, the migrant workers are facing the issue of unemployment, labour exploitation, poor working conditions, lower pay, forced working, extended working hours, language barriers, poor access to the public services and many more. It can be said that the condition of the migrant workers is not at all good in the UK and the UK government should develop better immigration policies which can ensure the human and employment rights of the immigrant workers.
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