The Performance of Immigrants in the United Kingdom: Evidence from the GHS

This paper assesses the performance of immigrants in the U.K. labor market. After reviewing the changes in the source countries of immigration using data from the General Household Surveys over the period 1973-92, the author documents the significantly higher level of schooling attained by immigrants relative to natives. This education gap has risen over successive cohorts primarily because of changes in the national origin of immigrants. The author's analysis of relative wages shows that the main group of disadvantaged immigrants are blacks who have significant foreign work experience. However, there are strong assimilation effects for this group so that this disadvantage is reduced significantly as duration in the United Kingdom increases.