Bulgarian Immigration and Community Cohesion in London and Brighton

1
Bulgarian Immigration and Community Cohesion in
London and Brighton

• Eugenia Markova
• Hellenic Observatory, London School of Economics
• Richard Black
• Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University
  of Sussex

2
Bulgarians in the UK - whats known

• Bulgarian immigrants in the UK made the
  headlines in spring 2004 the alleged visa scam
• Bulgarian immigrants dramatic re-appearance in
  the press in summer 2006
• October 2006 limited access of Bulgarian
  Romanian immigrants to the UK labour market after
  EU accession

3
Legal routes of entry to the UK labour market

• Since 1994 self-employment visas under the
  European Community Association Agreement (ECAA)
• March 2002-March 2005 2,422 ECAA visas
• Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS)
• 2005 work permits issued to 2,867 Bulgarian
  nationals
• The Sector Based Scheme (SBS)
• 2004 work permits issued to 1,424 Bulgarian
  nationals
• The High-Skilled Migration Programme (HSMP)
• 2002 (start of HSMP) 6 applications approved to
  Bulgarians 2005 40 applications approved.

4
Background

• This presentation on Bulgarian immigrants in the
  UK is extracted from a large survey of five
  non-EU nationalitiesAlbanians, Serbians,
  Russians, Ukrainians and Bulgarians and long-term
  residents, living with them in the same
  neighbourhoods
• Localities two London Boroughs of Hackney
  Harrow, the City of Brighton Hove
• Field work June-November 2005
• Quantitative survey 388 new immigrants 85
  Bulgarians 402 long-term residents
• In-depth interviews

5
Study localities

• The London Borough of Hackney inner-London
  Borough population of just over 200,00
  phenomenal ethnic diversity GLA Ethnicity index
  third most diverse local authority in the UK
• The London Borough of Harrow outer-London
  Borough population of just over 200,000 fifth
  nationally in terms of proportion of non-white
  residents a third of residents born in 137
  different countries 2,040 born in EE
• The City of Brighton Hove South coast low
  rate of ethnic diversity predominantly white
  population

6
Immigration and community cohesion a key
relationship

• Main concern experience of Bulgarian immigrants
  in the UK - labour market, their broader
  interaction with local communities, and the issue
  of community cohesion
• Operationalising community cohesion
• employment, education, housing
• sense of belonging in the neighbourhood and in
  the UK
• extent to which diversity is respected
• expectations for the future
• participation in community activities

7
Bulgarians coming to the UK

• Peak years 2003 2004
• N35 (41)
• Couples rather than single men N57 (67)
  married or had a partner
• N45 (79) of partners in UK, the rest in
  Bulgaria, usually women
• N45 (79) of partners of Bulgarian origin N12
  (21) - other ethnicity
• N41 (48) with dependent children Most of them
  in UK

8
Legal status

• Temporary, with a right to work 42 (N36)
• Dependents 18 (N15)
• Permanent residents 17 (N14)
• Semi-legal 8 (N7)
• Student 6 (N5)
• Temporary, not allowed to work 5 (N4)
• Undocumented 5 (N4)

9
Reasons for coming to the UK

• More than half in the sample left Bulgaria for
  economic reasons
• not earning enough (29)
• could not see any prospects for improvement of
  economic conditions (13)
• unemployed (4)
• Bulgarians came to the UK because of
• ease of entry (45)
• family and friends in the UK (37)
• studies (8)
• NONE OF THE BULGARIANS IN THE SAMPLE CAME
  BECAUSE OF WELFARE BENEFITS

10
Education

• Educational background
• No qualifications 1 (N1)
• Secondary education or college 47 (N40)
• University or above 52 (N44)
• Most of Bulgarians in the sample had completed
  education in their origin country

11
Language skills on arrival

• More than two thirds of Bulgarians in the sample
  reported none or basic level of English on
  arrival
• A quarter spoke no English at all
• More Bulgarian women (46) than men (23)
  reported fluent or adequate English on arrival

12
Current English language skills

• More than three quarters reported fluent or
  adequate current level of English
• These are self-reported levels of competence
• 83 of Bulgarian women reported fluent or
  adequate current level of English, compared to
  74 of men

13
Housing

• Almost three quarters of Bulgarians interviewed
  lived in private rented housing in all three
  localities
• Owner-occupiers 12 (N10), residence in UK5-
  10 yrs
• Common routes for finding accommodation family,
  friends, other Bulgarians (44) letting agency
  (28)
• Living with non-family members (NFM) 57 (N48,
  of them 23 living with another 1-2 NFM 19
  with 3-5 NFM 6 with 6-10 NFM)

14
Labour market (1)

• Employment prior to the UK
• Professions varied from doctors, accountants,
  midwifes, nurses to tennis coaches, fitness
  instructors, shop-owners, taxi drivers and
  locksmiths
• Not all were in employment 28 students, 4
  unemployed
• Just under a quarter worked in another foreign
  country 10 different countries mainly,
  Germany, Greece, Libyagt most first time
  emigrants

15
Labour market (2)

• Bulgarian immigrants first employment in UK
• Main sectors construction (men) personal
  services (women) hotel restaurant sector (both
  men women)
• Bulgarian immigrants current employment
• Never worked 11 (N9) mainly women -
  dependants
• Very high employment rate only 1 unemployed
• Majority in full-time employment
• Self-employed 20 (N15, 4 through an
  agency)
• Only 4 working illegally, in agriculture
  construction 7 semi-legal, in health,
  personal services, hotels and construction
• Jobs 50 - process, plant elementary
  occupations 20 - managerial, professional 16
  - administrative skilled trades 15 - personal
  services

16
Labour market (3)

• Finding changing employment
• Most important way for finding first/current job
  through other Bulgarians
• Two thirds working for a White British employer
  11 - for a SEE employer 9 - another Bulgarian
• Wages
• 24 (N15) of economically active earning below
  5, the National Minimum Wage Rate
• No men working below 4 an hour, just 2 women
• Low wages prevalent in Hackney and less so in
  Brighton

17
Labour market (4)

• Working hours
• Bulgarian immigrants were more likely than the
  other groups in the study to work over 45 hours
  per week more women than men.
• Those with permanent status were more likely to
  work longer hours.
• Only 8 of economically active Bulgarians were
  doing more than one job.
• Membership of a trade union
• Bulgarians the only immigrant group in the
  survey without a single trade union member

18
Cohesion in diverse communities (1)

• Sense of belonging
• Belonging to the neighbourhood
• Real lack of identification amongst Bulgarians
  and the other immigrant groups surveyed with the
  neighbourhood they were living in (two thirds of
  Bulgarians felt they did not belong to it)
• Belonging to Britain
• More than half of Bulgarians felt they belonged
  strongly or fairly strongly to Britain
• Bulgarians in Brighton with weakest sense of
  belonging to Britain N18, 62 felt they did not
  belong to Britain, compared to 7 (24) in Hackney
  and 10 (35) in Harrow

19
Why this weak feeling of belonging to
neighbourhood?

• Weaker belonging in Britain because of stronger
  belonging in the home country?
• Belonging to Bulgaria
• 95 (81) belonged, 59 (70) very strongly
  4(5) felt they belonged not very strongly to
  Bulgaria
• Those in Brighton weaker sense of belonging to
  Bulgaria than those in London
• Belonging to the Borough
• Belonging to Borough stronger than belonging to
  the neighbourhood
• Bulgarians in Brighton more pessimistic about
  belonging than those in London (only 2 in
  Brighton felt fairly strongly to the City, 11
  in Hackney, 12 in Harrow)

20
Other factors affecting neighbourhood belonging

• Of those who would return to Bulgaria soon, just
  15 with return plans in the next three years
  said they belong compared to 57 without return
  plans
• Bulgarians with children in the UK home owners
  and men stronger sense of belonging
• Language ability, occupation, age and legal
  status not associated to belonging to the
  neighbourhood

21
Valuing diversity

• Three measures are used
• Whether the individuals believed that
• a) their neighbourhoods are places where people
  get on well together
• Bulgarians had the most positive stance in the
  survey about this 81 definitely agreeing or
  tended to agree with this proposition this was
  much lower for the other groups in the survey
  83 in Hackney, 69 in Brighton
• neighbourhoods are places where people help each
  other
• And, frequency of talking to neighbours

22
Neighbourhood is a place where people help each
other

• Bulgarians were much more positive than the other
  groups in the survey one in three agreeing with
  it Albanians most pessimistic
• Bulgarians and Russians in the sample less
  likely to report they talked to neighbours
  frequently 17 Bulgarians (20) never talked to
  neighbours 5 (6) never spoke to local people
  they had no children, recent arrivals

23
Interactions between immigrants and long-term
residents

• At one extreme marriage and co-habitation
• Most of Bulgarians (84, N48) with a Bulgarian
  partner just 7 (N4) with an English person
• Role of social networks
• 75 of Bulgarians (N64) had friends from a
  different ethnic group, usually former socialist
  countries
• In case of a problem more than three quarter
  relied on their partners or Bulgarian housemates,
  relatives or friends 3 said nobody to help
• Cooperation at work
• Almost all working Bulgarians believed people at
  work respected each other only 3 said they did
  not
• More than half were working with people from
  other ethnic groups only 8 (11) working with
  other Bulgarians

24
Expectations from life in the UK

• Stable job to pay for a decent living
• quiet life
• I like my life in the UK, thats why I have
  chosen to live here. I want a quiet life and to
  be able to travel with my family everywhere in
  the world-I want everything that a normal person
  wishes to achieve. (Bulgarian, Hackney, M, 28)
• Plans to return to Bulgaria
• Bulgarians with higher intentions for return than
  the other groups in the sample
• Those in Brighton more likely to return
• Few Bulgarians felt the return was imminent more
  than half did not know when, only 2 with a fixed
  date
• Earning enough money and improvement in the
  economic situation in Bulgaria the most
  important factors for return

25
Community participation

• Whether people feel they can influence decisions
  at local level
• Just a quarter of Bulgarians felt they could do
  so
• A quarter had undertaken action to solve a local
  problem (contacted the appropriate organisation,
  local radio, MP)
• Volunteering
• Only 3 (4) Bulgarians had volunteered in the
  last 12 months compared to 30 Ukrainians, 31
  Serbians, 27 Russians, 26 Albanians
• Involvement in groups, clubs
• More than half of Bulgarians (55) involved in
  clubs, mainly sports clubs none of the
  Bulgarians members of a political party or
  religious organisation
• Bulgarians and Russians more likely to be
  members of an ethnic community group

26
Conclusion

• Bulgarians in the selected localities in UK
  differed significantly from those in Athens,
  Greece and Madrid, Spain better educated, more
  families with children than in Greece but less
  than in Spain
• Bulgarians that arrived in UK in 2000 and after
  were competing in a more crowded labour housing
  markets since East European immigration had grown
• Stereotypes of Bulgarians - potential welfare
  dependents, Albanians - linked to organised crime
  and Russians - wealthy newcomers interested in
  football are very wide from the mark
• A better image would be of hard working
  individuals supporting their families

27
Should the government, and civil society pay more
attention to East Europeans?