A report examined the consequences for the European Union of global social trends. It identified relevant trends that included: a new global middle class; population growth and ageing; employment and the labour market; and migration. It said many trends were uncertain and would be influenced by external factors. It outlined how the analysis could inform the ongoing work of the European Union.
Source: Stijn Hoorens, Jeremy Ghez, Benoit Guerin, Daniel Schweppenstedde, Tess Hellgren, Veronika Horvath, Marlon Graf, Barbara Janta, Sam Drabble, and Svitlana Kobzar, Europe s Societal Challenges: An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU, RAND Corporation
Links: Report | Summary | Rand press release
Date: 2013-Dec
A paper examined the issue of European Union border controls. It discussed the technologies that were deployed at the external borders, and how new technologies, such as those based on automation and biometrics, were transforming the principles behind the controls. It examined how this affected entry into the European Union, and the proposals for new technologies that were now emerging from European Union institutions.
Source: Elspeth Guild and Sergio Carrera, EU Borders and Their Controls: Preventing unwanted movement of people in Europe?, Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that official migration statistics were 'blunt instruments' for measuring, managing, and understanding migration to and from the United Kingdom. The statistical sources were not adequate for understanding the scale and complexity of modern migration flows, despite attempts to improve their accuracy and usefulness in recent years. A full and accurate account of migration required new sources of statistics.
Source: Migration Statistics, Seventh Report (Session 2013-14), HC 523, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | Full Fact blog post | Migration Watch press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined whether people who migrated within the United Kingdom became happier after the move than they were before, and whether the effect was permanent or transient. On average, migration was preceded by a period when individuals experienced a significant decline in happiness for a variety of reasons, including changes in personal living arrangements. Migration itself causes a boost in happiness, and brought people back to their initial levels. Long-distance migrants were at least as happy as short-distance migrants, despite the higher social and psychological costs involved.
Source: Beata Nowok, Maarten van Ham, Allan Findlay, and Vernon Gayle, 'Does migration make you happy? A longitudinal study of internal migration and subjective well-being', Environment and Planning A, Volume 45 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined migration trends in later life. One migration peak was around retirement, often involving those with the means to choose a home and area more in keeping with their changing circumstances and health. The second peak was among the 'older' old, suggesting that many were moving in response to a health crisis that required increased levels of care. People moving in the latter circumstances had less choice over destination, were more likely to end up in housing that provided a higher level of care than they needed or desired, and were more likely to lose contact with social networks that combated loneliness and isolation. Policy-makers needed to recognize the prevention potential of housing, and to invest in specialist, well-designed housing in locations in which older people wanted to live.
Source: Jenny Pennington, Moving On: Migration trends in later life, Hanover Housing Association
Date: 2013-Jun
A think-tank briefing examined the impacts of immigration on population growth and diversity in western European and other high-income countries. Migration had became the primary driver of demographic change in most high-income countries and might remain so. On existing trends European populations would become more ethnically diverse, with the possibility that the existing majority ethnic groups would no longer comprise a numerical majority in some countries. However, it could not be assumed that existing trends would continue, as migration was the most volatile element in demographic change.
Source: David Coleman, Immigration, Population and Ethnicity: The UK in international perspective, Migration Observatory (University of Oxford)
Links: Briefing | Daily Mail report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-May
A government-commissioned study said that it was not possible to put an accurate or reliable figure on how many Bulgarian or Romanian migrants would come to the United Kingdom when restrictions were removed on 1 January 2014: but that Spain, Italy, and to a lesser extent Germany were more likely as preferred destinations. Those who did come to the UK were not expected to exploit the benefits system and public services.
Source: Heather Rolfe, Tatiana Fic, Mumtaz Lalani, Monica Roman, Maria Prohaska, and Liliana Doudeva, Potential Impacts on the UK of Future Migration from Bulgaria and Romania, National Institute for Economic and Social Research
Links: Report | NIESR press release | FCO press release | Migration Watch press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Apr
An article proposed a simple method for assessing how far migration in Europe altered the extent of replacement for a birth cohort as it aged. It presented estimates of the overall replacement ratio for a range of European countries representing different replacement regimes. For many countries net migration had become a key factor in their population trends in recent decades.
Source: Chris Wilson, Tomas Sobotk, Lee Williamson, and Paul Boyle, 'Migration and intergenerational replacement in Europe', Population and Development Review, Volume 39 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
A new book provided an evidence-based assessment of the impact of migration and labour force participation on population and labour markets dynamics in Europe, and a comparative analysis of possible population developments in 27 European countries.
Source: Marek Kupiszewski (ed.), International Migration and the Future of Populations and Labour in Europe, Springer
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Feb
A new book examined patterns of residential mobility of minorities in Europe.
Source: Nissa Finney and Gemma Catney (eds), Minority Internal Migration in Europe, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jan