African migration to the UK

1
African migration to the UK

• David Owen
• University of Warwick, UK

2
Aims of the paper

• To outline trends in migration from Africa to the
  UK
• To describe the living conditions of African
  migrants in the UK
• To contrast migrants from different regions of
  Africa

3
Structure of paper

• The data sources used
• Trends over time / types of migration
• Geography of Africans in the UK
• Demography and socio-economic circumstances of
  Africans
• Comparative position of Africans
• Conclusion

4
Data sources on African migration

• The main data source used for this paper was the
  Labour Force Survey for 2008 a quarterly random
  survey of 160 thousand people (data presented is
  for Great Britain). This provides a wealth of
  information on demography and participation in
  the labour force.
• Geographical distribution from Census of
  Population for 2001
• DWP National Insurance number applications
  represents people coming to UK to work
• Home Office UK Asylum statistics 2007 and Control
  of Immigration Statistics 2007

5
Migration trends

• The LFS asks individuals the year in which they
  first entered the UK. This gives an indication of
  the migration trend, but excludes those who
  returned to Africa.
• Migration of Black-Africans to the UK started
  rather later than that of Caribbean and South
  Asian people
• Until the late 1980s, total migration was around
  5000 a year. The total reached 20 thousand in a
  number of years in the 1990s.
• The number of migrants increased rapidly at the
  turn of the century and remained around 30
  thousand per year during this decade.
• Migration from West and Central Africa increased
  steadily during this period.
• Migration from East Africa increased rapidly in
  the early 1990s, afterwards falling, but
  increasing again after 2000.
• Migration from Southern Africa was highest around
  the year 2000.

6
Year of entry to the UK of Black African-born
people, 1960-2007
7
Asylum migration

• Migration for asylum was a major factor
  underlying Africa migration to the UK.
• The total number of asylum applications from
  Africa steadily increased throughout the 1990s,
  peaked in 2002, afterwards declining.
• The peak was 30.5 thousand in 2002.
• There were still 8.8 thousand applications in
  2007
• There was a total of 171.5 thousand asylum
  applications from African principal applicants
  over the period 1998-2007.

8
Asylum migration by country

• Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have
  experienced wars, civil conflict and political
  unrest since 1990 and have been the source of
  asylum applications to the UK.
• The bulk of asylum applications are from
  countries formerly colonised by the UK.
• Eastern and southern Africa was the largest
  source of asylum applications.
• The largest individual source of applications was
  Somalia (43 thousand), followed by Zimbabwe (21
  thousand), Congo and DR Congo (both 11.5
  thousand), Nigeria (9.8 thousand) and Algeria
  (8.3 thousand)

9
Asylum applications by country 1998-2007
10
Trends in asylum migration from the largest
sources, 1997-2007

• Asylum migration started in the early 1990s in
  Somalia, and was still running at over 5 thousand
  per year in the late 1990s. It has declined since
  2002.
• Asylum applications from Sierra Leone and Algeria
  declined after 2000/2001.
• Asylum migration from other countries was
  building up in the late 1990s.
• For Zimbabwe, asylum flows peaked in 2002 at 7.7
  thousand. This year also saw peak asylum flows
  from DR Congo.
• There has been a steady flow of asylum
  applications (around 1000 per year) from Nigeria.
• Asylum migration from Eritrea steadily increased
  over the period 1997-2007. Asylum applications
  from Sudan have also been increasing.

11
Trends in asylum migration from Africa,1998-2008
12
Migration from Africa for employment

• The main sources of information on work-related
  migration are DWP data on National Insurance
  number allocations and Home Office information on
  work permits issued.
• Over the period 2002-8, an average of 60 thousand
  NI numbers per annum were allocated to African
  nationals.
• This probably overstates migration for work due
  to double-counting. Nevertheless, migration for
  work-related reasons now greatly exceeds asylum
  migration.
• The largest number of NI numbers allocated during
  the financial year 2006/7 was to South Africans
  (17 thousand), followed by Nigerians (12.5
  thousand), Ghana (5.5 thousand) and Zimbabwe (4.1
  thousand).

13
National Insurance numbers allocated to African
nationals, 2002-8
14
Largest National Insurance number allocations to
African nationals 2006/7
15
Employment-related migration from Africa,
1997-2007

• The number of people from Africa with work
  permits permitted to settle in the UK steadily
  increased from 4 thousand in 1997 to 2002 to a
  peak of 15.7 thousand.
• The numbers declined slowly after 2002, but were
  still 10 thousand in 2007.
• This probably reflects the rapid increase in
  recruitment of African doctors and nurses by the
  NHS, since the bulk of admissions were for people
  working for 12 months or more.
• The number of dependants admitted steadily
  increased, representing a third of all grants in
  1997 and around two-fifths in 2007.
• In addition, 2.5 thousand students from Africa
  (1331 males, 1179 females) were accepted onto UK
  higher education courses in 2007/8 (UCAS data).

16
Work permit holders and dependants from Africa,
given leave to enter the UK 1997-2007
17
Regional distribution of Black-African people in
England and Wales

• Black-African people mainly live in the southern
  and eastern regions of England and Wales
• Over three-quarters of Black-African people born
  in Africa lived in London in 2001.
• Nearly half lived in Inner London.
• The South-East has the second largest number of
  Black African people, but mainly in the larger
  cities and towns near London.
• People form West and Central Africa are most
  concentrated in London, especially Inner London.
• People from South and East Africa have a more
  geographically widespread distribution than other
  Africans.

18
Geographical distribution of Black-African people
19
Largest national origins

• In 2008, the Black African-born population of the
  UK was nearly 0.5 million.
• There were 6 countries from which there were 20
  thousand or more Black-African migrants present
  in the UK in 2008 Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia,
  Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya.
• The largest single country of origin was Nigeria
  with 125 thousand people.
• Overall, there were 855 males per thousand
  females among Black African-born people.
• In the larger countries of origin, females
  strongly outnumbered males, but males were
  strongly in the majority in many smaller
  countries.
• Amongst Somalis, there were 566 males per
  thousand females.

20
Countries of origin of African migrants
21
Age and gender structure of Black African-born
people, 2008

• Predominantly younger adults
• Females in the majority in most age groups but
  surveys find it harder to contact males
• Few older people
• Few young children
• Larger number of teenage children girls
  strongly in majority

22
Age structure and geographical origins of
Black-Africans

• Around half of Black-Africans were aged 25-44 in
  2008.
• Those from West Africa tended to be older, with a
  smaller percentage of children and young adults
  and a higher percentage of older adults and
  pensioners.
• The youngest population was from East Africa a
  quarter of whom were young adults.
• The percentage of children was highest for East
  Africans.

23
Family structure of African migrants

• Overall, half of African migrants live in married
  couples and a further 6 per cent as cohabiting
  couples.
• Just over a fifth are single, and a quarter are
  lone parents.
• Just over three-fifths live with dependent
  children
• East Africans are least likely to be living in
  married couples and most likely to be lone
  parents (33.1 per cent)
• South Africans are most likely to be living in
  married couples
• West Africans are most likely to be single

24
Labour market situation by geographical origin

• The economic situation of African migrants is
  relatively favourable.
• Male economic activity and employment rates are
  close to average, but the unemployment rate is
  relatively high.
• For women, economic activity and employment rates
  are slightly below average and the unemployment
  rate is above average.
• People from Southern Africa have the most
  favourable economic situation, with high activity
  and low unemployment rates
• However, people from East Africa are least likely
  to be economically active and most likely to be
  unemployed.

25
Economic activity of African migrants by period
of immigration

• The economic activity rate in 2008 is much higher
  for migrants who arrived between 1970 and 1989
  than for more recent migrants.
• Those arriving in the 1990s are more likely to be
  economically active and in work than those who
  arrived after 2000
• Just over half of post-2000 migrants are in
  employment and an eighth of those economically
  active are unemployed

26
Economic activity of Africans by age

• Economic activity rates increase with age
• A high percentage of economically inactive
  younger people are in education
• Economic activity rates are highest for people in
  their thirties
• Men are more likley than women to be economically
  active

27
Educational qualifications of African migrants

• Overall, nearly a quarter of African migrants
  possess a degree or equivalent qualification
• A quarter have other qualifications
• An eighth have no educational qualifications
• West Africans are most likely to have a degree or
  higher level qualification
• East Africans are least likely to have a degree
  and least likely to have no qualifications
• South Africans are most likely to have higher
  education or A-level equivalent qualifications
  probably commensurate with associate professional
  (inc. nursing occupations)

28
Types of job held by African migrants

• Women tend to do associate professional and
  personal service occupations
• For men, the largest occupation is elementary
  occupations (26 per cent), followed by
  professional and associate professional
  occupations
• South Africans are more likely to be concentrated
  in associate professional and personal service
  occupations than other Africans.
• West Africans are most likely to work in
  elementary occupations

29
Occupations of African migrants
30
Conclusion

• Migration from Africa to the UK has been
  accelerating in the last 20 years and the Black
  African-born population has reached 0.5 million
• Economic migration is now becoming more important
  than asylum migration
• The population is predominantly of prime
  economically active age, and the majority are
  female
• The economic circumstances of the African
  population is relatively favourable
• Africans are more likely to work in non-manual
  than manual occupations, but over a quarter work
  in elementary occupations