The UK in a Changing Europe

We are pleased to announce that the CPC is undertaking a programme of research which will contribute directly to the debate on the UK's changing relationship with the European Union. The research, carried out with the ESRC 'UK in a Changing Europe' initiative, consists of 3 inter-linked research streams, which bring together expertise from across the CPC.

The first piece of research maps the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the EU-born (non-UK) population in the UK. The team will look at couples in bi-national partnerships (with and without children), where one partner is a non-UK EU-born, the distinction between partners from the 'old' EU and the 'new' EU will also be investigated. The research, carried out by Professor Maria Evandrou, Dr Athina Vlachantoni, and Professor Jane Falkingham, is generating new evidence on how the characteristics of EU migrants compares with those of White British and British born Black Minority Ethnic (BME) individuals as well as non-EU migrants.

The second piece of work aims to understand attitudes towards the UK's changing role in Europe. Led by Professor Derek McGhee and Dr Athina Vlachantoni , an online survey targeted at non-UK EU-born citizens who currently live in the UK is being conducted. Derek comments "We want to find out about migrants in the UK who will be directly affected if Britain leaves the EU. What are their concerns about the UK's possible Brexit and its implications for their rights and obligations within the UK? How might they react if the UK leaves, what are their thoughts and plans with regards to naturalisation?"

Team three, led by Dr Paul Bridgen and Professor Traute Meyer builds on existing work being undertaken within the CPC which investigates how recent changes to UK social policy have affected the benefit entitlements of EU migrants. The team are examining the impact of these changes on the UK's ability to attract economically beneficial migrants, and how this situation would be affected by the UK's exit from the EU.

We are hosting two events on 10 May 2016 to share the finding of this research. These will be a research dissemination event for policy-makers and practitioners followed by a public panel debate to discuss the wider issues around our research on EU migrants living in the UK, migrants' attitudes to the forthcoming referendum, and the resulting social policy implications.

The findings from all three of the research teams will be available on the CPC website in due course. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @CPCpopulation for updates.

For further information on the ESRC UK in a Changing Europe initiative visit their website.

Posted 03/12/2015 17:22