Overview

This project focuses on the role of international migration in (dis-)connecting generations in the UK and globally. We look at the intergenerational transmission of economic outcomes and values such as education, income, consumption, welfare dependence and work ethics, as well as norms such as trust, political participation and social attitudes.

We test whether changes in migration patterns widen or narrow the gap between generations and look at the effect on inequality of income, opportunities and well-being. The data we use to do this includes censuses and surveys, including Understanding Society. The research compares natives and migrants, as well as first and second/third generation migrants, in terms of their inter- and intra-generational gaps.

The work improves understanding of whether migrants, in particular second-generation migrants, are well integrated and how they fare in terms of (in)equality compared to first generation migrants and natives.

State of the art quantitative and econometric techniques, such as advanced decomposition methods, are used to investigate the impact of space, place, race, class and gender on inequalities. This is coupled with the use of machine learning techniques (e.g. text analysis algorithms) to conduct sentiment analyses from social networks and other online data sources with the aim of informing the literature on the evolution of attitudes and norms across and within generations.

The research is of relevance to policymakers concerned about the role of migration, in particular in within the Home Office and Treasury. Our findings are also useful for local government and councils interested in fostering better cohesion and participation by typically excluded groups.

This project is jointly led by Professor Jackline Wahba and Professor Corrado Giulietti.