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West and East Europeans have been important components of the migration flows into the UK in the last decade, but they remain largely under-studied. This paper utilises 12 quarters of the Labour Force Survey for the years 2002–2013 to examine patterns of over-qualification and their impact on those migrants' earnings. The findings show a clear and greater penalty for East Europeans. They were more likely than the majority White-British and West European migrants to be substantially over-qualified and have earned the lowest pay premium on their excess education. The East European migrants' double penalty is explained by their over-concentration in the secondary labour market where discrimination by employers, exploitation and lower rewards are common practices. Contrary to this, West European migrants enjoy a much better labour market position as they are able to successfully negotiate access to its primary sector.
Johnston et al. (Mon,) studied this question.