LC561 Race, Ethnicity & Migration CW1 Portfolio: UK Immigrant Issues

This portfolio delves into the complexities of race, ethnicity, and migration in the UK, focusing on low-skilled migrant workers. It identifies the causes and patterns of migration to the UK, examining factors such as economic development, demographic changes, and urbanization. The study explores ethnic identity construction using social identity theory and analyzes the social problems faced by less-skilled immigrants, including language barriers, challenges in raising children, securing work, housing issues, transportation difficulties, and cultural barriers. Furthermore, it touches upon theoretical approaches to tackling these social problems, referencing Ravenstein's Laws of Migration. The portfolio aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the experiences and challenges faced by low-skilled migrants in the UK, highlighting the interplay between migration patterns, ethnic identity, and social integration.

LC561 Race Ethnicity &
Migration CW1 Portfolio

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Identifying the cause and pattern to the UK................................................................................1
Ethnic identity construction........................................................................................................2
Social problems face by less-skilled immigrants........................................................................4
Theoretical tackling of Social problems faced by immigrants....................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Race is usually associated with physical characteristics such as skin color. Ethnicity is
linked with cultural expression & identification of problems in order to gain proper knowledge
regarding the same. The current study migrant category is low skilled migrant workers of UK.
The migrant workers are considered to be those who has been migrates within or outside country
to pursue work. It is identified that they do not have intention to stay with country which they
work. There are number of problems which are faced by migrant workers which will be involved
in current report by identifying cause & pattern of migration to the UK. It will include ethnic
identity construction by using relevant theories. Social problems n relevant to the chosen group
will be involved in current study along with tackling methods.
MAIN BODY
Identifying the cause and pattern to the UK
In the current era, there are several types of causes which lead to create challenges for
workers. International migrants are considered to be those who move across boarders for the
purpose of settlement. These people change their resident from one country to another. There
are several causes that lead to international migration which are required to be understood in
order to gain depth insights about the same. It involves inadequate human, economic
development, increase in demographic factor, urbanization, wars and dictatorships,
environmental changes, etc. These are the crucial factors which lead to result in migration. The
main driver of forced migration regarding both international or internal for the chosen segment
is marriage, employment, education, lack of security, etc.
Low skilled migrants are considered to those who move from low to middle and high
income group for the purpose of finding good opportunities in order to make better life. It is one
of the global issue that has major influence on the economic development as get affected from
demographic change, social economic & political aspects (Simkhada and et.al., 2018). It leads to
create widening gaps within developing and developed countries. The one of the significant
theory of migration which is helpful in identifying significant pattern is Lee's migration model
that accounts for push or pull factors intervening obstacles in order to predict the method
(Migration. 2022). Low skilled workers migrant due to number of reasons which are required to
be highlighted in order to gain significant processing. From the evaluation of this Lee's push
and pull theory there are various factors which leads to result in such practices that serve number
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of benefits and drawbacks as well. It comprises factors associated with the place of origin,
destination and intervening obstacles and personal factors.
As per the particular theory there are number of reasons who migrants due to possessing
these associations. The important point that helps in discovering pattern is having perceived
difference between the areas of origin and destination which is related with stage of the life
cycle of particular individual. In addition to this, the long association of an individual with a
place might outcome in over evaluation of positive factors and under estimation of negative
components. From the application of this, theory it can be articulated that there may be
difficulties proper ascertainment of both destination. Personal factor which promote and retard
migration like awareness intelligence, contacts & cultural of an individual.
In the UK employment is high which can be effectively grabbed by those unskilled
labor. In the UK there are larger number of characteristics which includes lower educational
attainment, smaller technical knowledge, etc. these industries comprises farming, catering,
nursing, etc who are conducted by low skilled possessing people. The main cause behind such
low skilled migrants is availability of higher opportunities of growth & development. There are
number of components which influences particular kind of people to move from their area to
other country involves on availability of desire payment scale, ineffective and irrespective
working cultural, dominance of upper working groups, etc. There is presence of 44% of global
workforce working as lo skilled occupation (Fassani and Mazza, 2020). The push factor
according to the theory involves fewer job opportunities, poor standard of living, drought,
poverty, etc. In addition to this pull factor involves better services, safe society, less crime,
more wealth, etc. From the evaluation it can be specified that UK have created flexible
employment law which makes it easy to come and hire people for accomplishing requirements
of economic development. This provides significant opportunity to migrants of low skilled
category to work there to meet their respective objectives.
Ethnic identity construction
There are several relevant concepts which are required to be taken into consideration for
analyzing the construction of this group's social identity. Development of ethnic identity is
considered to be process of constructions of identity over time due to combination of experience
and actions of individual for obtaining sense of belonging to particular ethnic group. Social
identity theory is concerned with assessing how individual pay attention on crating & defining
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their particular position. It involves social k categorization, m identification and comparison. For
this purpose migrants tend to move to find good opportunities that can improve social position.
There are several countries from which migrants come to the UK involves India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, central & Eastern Europe, etc. The workers of low skilled possessing come to the
UK for accomplishing several objectives as there is higher availability for occupations of such
people. There is clear difference between employment rates for high & low skilled occupations.
According to the theory of gravity there is geographic field of migration analysis with current
respect to the relationship between distance and migration. There is presence of inverse
relationship between the two aspects. It indicates between any two centers is function of only
distance between occurring population size. It has been identified that city attracts retail trade
from customer location which basically focuses on explaining movement of people between two
centers.
Categorization of the chosen area such as low skilled labor which is indicated that there
is higher emphasis is provided on qualification factor. In addition to this, it can be specified that
there is much emphasis should be provided on gaining significant distinction between low,
middle and high skilled labor (Giarè, Ricciardi and Borsotto, 2020). These are considered to be
those who does not possess higher degrees and operates in the area where specialization is not
required. In UK there are several manufacturing companies which permit low skilled labor to get
employment for accomplishing their daily based requirement. There is no racism is conducted
on the basis of color, caste, creed, etc. It involves categorization on the basis of skills and
qualifications to make distinction.
The intersection of such identities with other social structures which focuses on
understanding how low skilled labor are interacted with class, gender, religion and region.
From the evaluation it can be specified that low skilled labor who are treated as valued and has
much emphasis on making differentiation to the certain extent. In UK there is much preference
is given to men than men in case of less qualification based work. There is availability of gender
brassiness which as well differs the payment scale among both the part. In addition to this,
structure change in the trade towards vertical specialization have similar effect to skilled biased
technical change that occurs h in several countries at the same time hence worldwide nature of
paying scale trend. On the basis of religion there is no higher focus is given on type of religion
like Muslim, etc.
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There are several institutions which are considered to be process of ethnic identity
construction which comprises labor market, criminal justice, employment laws, media, etc. in
this part ethnic identity develops and passed on the basis of tradition, language, religious
practice, cultural values, perception etc. These all get highly influenced from media, etc which
create impact on workers. The important role-played by criminal justice, labor market, etc.
There are several rules and regulations are imposed by such official authorities for low skilled
labor that formulate particular identity. These institutions ensure that fair remuneration, working
hours, health & safety measures, etc are obtained by this class of working group.
There are various agents such as media, community organization, ideas like black power,
multiculturalism, Islamophobia, etc. in order to formulate appropriate ethnic identity much
concentration must be given to media outlets as play major role in influencing perspective of
people. There is higher implication of islamophobia which tend to result in inclining fear among
people regarding Muslim which has been found in UK. The agent plays relevant role to make
sure that p[roper identity of low skilled labor is found in UK through making awareness
regarding characteristics, etc.
Social problems face by less-skilled immigrants
Following are few problems and issues which are faced by the less-skilled workers in the
UK organizations such as Tesco, Sainsbury and ASDA,
Language :
These are immigrants which are less-skilled thus, there are chances that they do not have
proper interpersonal skills. This can be directly considered as the issues which is multilingual in
nature and is considered to be the reason why these workers would have to face such an issue. It
can be said that many refugees and immigrants are known to take classes for learning the
language. This is done by them to improve their skills (Øien-Ødegaard, C., Straiton, M. and
Kjøllesdal, 2019.). This is great social problem as they have to manage their life, work and these
classes which become essential for their development.
Raising children :
This is one of the biggest obstacles faced by this section of the society which faces issues
in raising children in an unfamiliar culture. It can also be said that the children are quickly
considered to be the odds which impacts their own culture. For the unskilled children paying the
school fees of their kids in itself is a great burden (7 of the Biggest Challenges Immigrants and
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Refugees Face in the US, 2021). These less-skilled workers generally has limited pay which is
not enough for the managing the expenses of raising a child.
Securing work :
Most of the refugees and immigrants which are less-skilled are considered to take part in
the jobs which are less secure. This is due to the lack of such opportunities which is present for
such immigrants. These are still the presence of certain discrimination in this society which is
towards the sense of urgency that is towards desperation in the workplace. This is the reasons
these migrants are not able to have secure job.
Home :
The migrant workers which are less-skilled often face issues of affording proper house.
This is due to costliness of the property in UK (Löfvander, Beckman and von Kobyletzki, 2020).
These section of the society generally fall victim to the exploitation from their land lords. It is
the reason why less-skilled workers often live together as group through sharing their flats. The
landlords are also seen discriminating between the immigrants.
Transportation
The migrant workers face several problems but one of the significant issue that is faced
by them is transportation. The cost of transportation inclines their cost which needs result in
decreasing earning. It has major influence on their life style. Migrants have to face several issue
like time-consuming, incurring of cost, etc. It leads to affect them in adverse manner and
outcome in declining ability to meet predetermined objectives.
Cultural barriers
From the evaluation it can be identified that there are several negative factors that hinders
growth & development of workers. There are number of cultural values and norms which differs
from each other. This might decline the confidence, potential of efforts sharing etc. which are
affect migrants working capabilities.
Theoretical tackling of Social problems faced by immigrants
The Ravenstein's Laws of migration is a theory which helps in analysation of the social
problems faced by the low-skilled workers in UK organization like Tesco, Sainsbury and
ASDA. These workers are generally from developing or under developed countries. This theory
suggests that the there is an inverse relation between distance and volume of migration. As per
this theory the migrant generally move to short distances however, when they move to larger
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distances it is because of the large centre of commerce or industry which helps them to generate
a scope of growth. This is the reason why in Tesco and ASDA there are scope of opportunities
for the immigrants focus of travelling to long distances such that they can take advantage of the
business opportunities (Grigoryev., 2020). This has increased the competition for gaining
earning opportunities for the immigrants which are low-skilled.
In this theory the volume of migration has been said to increase when there is a process
of diversification in the economy. This is the reason why the immigrants workers are seen to
travel more to the UK and ensure the effectiveness for their working opportunities. The low-
skilled workers face issues in the UK as there is a lack of clear opportunities for getting a job.
Due to the lack of skills which they possess they generally end up targeting task which requires
fewer skills. Generally the low-skilled workers are seen to work as cab driver, construction
worker, working at a retail store and opening a small size business. As this theory suggests that
diversification motivates immigration therefore, it is essential for the organizations to provide
employment opportunities to only those who are highly skilled. Those with low skill are not able
to survive in the highly competitive environment. Thus, it is the recruitment practices of the
institutions which are needed to be improved.
Due to the inflation and recession in the UK economy has increased due the impacts of
Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. This is one of the biggest issue faced by such labours as they fail
to gain earning opportunities in such economical threats. Immigrants being socially diverse is a
factor which effects them negatively as they fail to have the opportunities which can uplift their
lifestyle in the country (Cerecİ, 2019). Due to them being less-skilled, it impacts their work
place performances that is necessary for gaining growth and incentives. Most such workers then
prefer on getting some training which can uplift their skills which help them in increasing the
productivity. The work done by these workers also involve physical efforts which are socially
considered to be a risk which is faced by them. It is also very important for the UK organization
to ensure that they are providing the immigrants workers with equal rights which they deserve
according to their capabilities.
Being less-skilled is said to be the factor which influences the individual in providing
lower productivity and also decreasing their efficiency at the work place. It can be said that due
to bad interpersonal skill it is considered that the focus of these immigrants is distracted. In
many scenarios it has been seen that due to lack of employment opportunities they start to
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indulge in illegal practices. This is a social issue which is due to the creation of lack of
opportunities which is essential for the growth of these immigrants. In order to deal with this
situation the less-skilled workers can be provided with training and development which would
help them to develop themselves in the UK organizations such as Tesco and Sainsbury.
CONCLUSION
With the helps of this project it can be concluded that the less-skilled workers which are
generally immigrants or a section of the backward society faces many social problems which
impacts their growth in UK. In this project the causes and patterns of the migration of these less-
skilled workers in UK has been understood with the help Lee's theory that is said to be explained
the international migration. This project has also been able to explain the ethical identity of the
construction which with the help of theories critically analyses the less-skilled social group. In
this the explanation of the issues which are relevant the low-skilled workers have been
explained. This project was also able to understand the social problems which is relevant
experienced of this section which influences the problems that is experienced by a particular
section of the society. This project also explains the with the help of Ravenstein's Law for
tackling the social problems which are identified for the less-skilled immigrants workers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
CERECİ, S., 2019. Communication Need of Immigrants: Instruments, Ways, Messages. Göç
Araştırmaları Dergisi. 5(1). pp.10-26.
Fassani, F. and Mazza, J., 2020. A vulnerable workforce: Migrant workers in the COVID-19
pandemic. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Giarè, F., Ricciardi, G. and Borsotto, P., 2020. Migrants workers and processes of social
inclusion in Italy: The possibilities offered by social farming. Sustainability. 12(10).
p.3991.
Grigoryev, D.S., 2020. Problems of conceptualization and operationalization of attitudes toward
immigrants in cross-national comparative research. Journal of Belarusian State
University. Sociology. 3. pp.89-100.
Löfvander, M., Beckman, L. and von Kobyletzki, L., 2020. Chronic severe sleep problems
among non-nordic immigrants. Data from a population postal survey in mid-sweden.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17(21). p.7886.
Øien-Ødegaard, C., Straiton, M. and Kjøllesdal, M.K.R., 2019. Sleep problems among
immigrants. European Journal of Public Health. 29(Supplement_4). pp.ckz185-244.
Simkhada, P. and et.al., 2018. A survey of health problems of Nepalese female migrants workers
in the Middle-East and Malaysia. BMC international health and human rights. 18(1).
pp.1-7.
Online
Migration. 2022. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3p4b82/revision/1>.
7 of the Biggest Challenges Immigrants and Refugees Face in the US, 2021.[Online]. Available
through: <https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/the-7-biggest-challenges-facing-
refugees-and-immig/>
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