A New Source of Labour for Low Skilled Sectors? Young Southern Europeans in the UK

Whilst the Europeanisation of migration into the UK had begun in the 1990s, intra European migration reshaped migration patterns due to the accession of 10 new countries in 2004 when the UK was one of 3 countries (in addition to Ireland and Sweden) which opened up to the enlargement states. The opening was seen as a means of reorienting immigration for less skilled away from third country nationals. However, less noticed was the immigration of Southern Europeans for whom the UK has been a preferred location since the 1990s. With the deepening effects of the economic crisis and welfare cuts since 2010, the numbers of Southern Europeans registered for work have risen sharply. Today the UK is the first destination country for young, and often tertiary educated, Italians and Spanish. As yet there is little published academic research on recent Southern European flows, unlike the abundant literature on Eastern Europeans, especially Polish. Many recent Southern European migrants seem to be working in low skilled jobs in the hospitality, retail and construction sectors, although others have managed to find jobs commensurate with their education and training. These accounts generally present the young Southern Europeans in a fairly favourable light, often based on the assumption that they will not settle.  We ask in this paper whether young Southern Europeans represent a new source of labour for less skilled sectors, on the one hand, and on the other, how they envisage their stay in the UK.