Immigration and Integration: The Irish Knowledge Gap Bryan Fanning and Neil O’Boyle

1. Contact Address: School of Applied Social Science UCD. Email:bryan.fanning@ucd.ie and neil.oboyle@ucd.ie Immigration and Integration: The Irish Knowledge Gap Bryan Fanning and Neil O’Boyle Focus of Research The Integration and Demographic Data research module is a component of the three year IRCHSS funded Integration and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland project which commenced in April 2008. The focus of the research module is on the need for comprehensively disaggregated data on the experiences of different immigrant communities to inform targeted policy. The project aims to improve institutional capacity for the analysis of existing data sets (e.g. census enumeration area data) so as to measure current social integration and to develop longitudinal measures of social integration. The research aims to address methodological and policy issues for Irish quantitative (census and survey) data collection and analysis arising from recent large scale immigration. There is an urgent need to develop research capacity in response to recent large scale immigration. Irish scholarship is developing from a very low base and in general is poorly placed to inform integration policy. Much of this consists of small scale qualitative studies. Furthermore, the use of demographic data is also underdeveloped in comparison with countries such as the United Kingdom. There is an urgent need to promote a longitudinal analysis of census and survey data capable of tracking the distinct needs and circumstances of diverse immigrant communities. It is necessary that such analysis is informed by hypotheses drawn from the experiences of other countries. Such experiences potentially include the economic, social and political marginalisation of some immigrant communities, the impact of these on existing spatial deprivation, experiences of addressing immigrant social exclusion and promoting integration. The aim of the moduleis to develop Irish capacity for analysis of currently underused census and quarterly household budget survey data which has the potential to provide a basis for disaggregating data on different immigrant communities and for longitudinal analysis. The second aim of this module is to develop capacity and good practice in the longitudinal analysis of census and survey data on the basis of nationality and ethnicity census variables. Immigration and Socio-Spatial Segregation Popular and political debate about immigration tends to focus on the dangers of ghettoised immigrant populations. The experiences of other countries reveal concentrations of socially excluded immigrants in economically deprived localities. Examples include Bradford (United Kingdom) and suburban Paris. The Irish case is one where large scale recent immigration is likely to impact on pre-existing patterns of socio-spatial segregation. The module will test a hypothesis of immigrant ‘social lift’ (akin to gentrification) versus a hypothesis of immigrant spatial deprivation. The aim is to better understand how the presence of immigrant families and children impacts on areas of demographic decline and how neighbourhood affects are likely to affect immigrant communities. In this context analysis of the spatial distribution of immigrants on the basis of their own socio-economic status will have significant consequences for both social inclusion and integration policy. Research in other countries (e.g. UK and France) reveals spatial deprivation compounds other forms of marginalisation experienced by some immigrant communities. Irish data indicates that immigrants possess higher levels of social capital (e.g. qualifications) than Irish citizens. The concentration of marginal immigrants in spatially deprived areas has considerably different implications than the addition of highly qualified immigrants to such localities. However, the presence of immigrants from higher socio-economic groups than the general population in areas of demographic decline may not of itself achieve a ‘social lift’. Analysis will focus on deprived localities or pockets in Dublin and in other urban centres with significant immigrant populations. Here the need for ethnic/nationality breakdowns of spatial data is emphasised (see Figure 1). Analysis will focus on the positive and negative impact of immigrants on employment and educational levels within deprived areas by Electoral District using indicators of relative deprivation (e.g. social class disadvantage, demographic decline and labour market disadvantage). International Immigration Comparing international data on immigration is difficult, mainly due to the use of different criteria to categorise foreign-born residents versus locally born non-citizens (see Table 1). The exact number of migrants residing in Europe, for example, is still unknown,[i] partly due to the fact that, in contrast to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, many European countries use nationality, not the place or country of birth, as the standard criterion in their demographic, economic and social statistics. This means that in many instances it is not possible to differentiate between the foreign born (= immigrants) and the locally born non-citizens.[ii] [i] According to Eurostat, net migration in the EU-25 increased from 590 000 persons in 1994 to 1.85 million by 2004, although it is acknowledged that these figures are likely under-estimates of the true extent of migration flows between countries as they do not include clandestine migration, such as illegal immigrants or human trafficking (Eurostat Yearbook 2006-07, p. 29). [ii] World Migration 2005: Costs and Benefits of International Migration, IOM Publications, p. 117. Figure 1: Dublin - all foreign nationals excluding British[i] [i] Source: Mac Éinrí, P. and Bradley, H. (2007) CSO Publications. Available at http://migration.ucc.ie/mappingmigration.htm • Research Policy Context • Current breakdowns of data from the 2006 Census of Population and other important sources of data such as the Household Budget Survey inadequately meet the needs of Irish social policy in a multicultural era. The importance of adequate and appropriate data and some of the difficulties in developing such data has been highlighted by the United Kingdom Cabinet Office: • One of the reasons why policies and services have failed minority ethnic groups in the past is the lack of information available about them. Much information that is currently collected is not broken down by ethnic group. In addition, because people from minority ethnic communities make up a small proportion of the population, their representation in many surveys is so low as to make it difficult to use the results with confidence. The resulting lack of detailed local and robust data that covers the whole country means that it is often difficult to adequately diagnose the problems experienced by minority ethnic groups, better target policies or services at addressing their needs, and monitor the impact on them.[i] • Similar concerns have been emphasised in recent Irish immigration policy debates. As stated by the Office of the Minister of Integration: • Evidence based policy is very much a feature of Irish public service planning and is particularly in the integration field. There are serious gaps in our information about the new communities, only some of which have been addressed by the recent census. The quality of research on integration has been sporadic and uneven – often linked to the difficulty of getting appropriate data.[ii] • In 2008 the Minister of State for Integration has expressed concerns about the potentially detrimental impact of marginalised immigrants upon already marginalised communities. However, a distinctive characteristic of Irish immigration is the prevalence of high levels of human capital. In this context the presence of immigrants in deprived localities may constitute a social lift rather than the concentration of multiple bases of inequality. However, all European countries have minority ethnic populations that face disproportionate levels of social exclusion and marginalisation. This suggests that Irish integration policy will need to focus on identifying and responding to differing levels of need amongst different communities in different localities. Policies targeted at immigrant communities will need to take into account the spatial distribution of immigrants. • [i] UK Cabinet Office (2000) Minority Ethnic Issues in Social Exclusion and Neighbourhood Renewal, London, HMSO, p. 66. • [ii] Office of the Minster of Integration (2008) Migration Nation: Statement on Integration Strategy and Diversity Management, Dublin: Stationary Office, p. 23. • Integration and Empirical Data 1 • Integration is a concept that spans various dimensions of individual and collective life. The topic of integration includes material, cultural and social aspects and crosses scientific, jurisdictional and bureaucratic boundaries.[i] While discussion of this topic has been mostly focused on the economy,[ii] economic needs must be balanced by a strong policy of social integration.[iii] Research on integration might therefore include items such as the frequency of contacts with friends and neighbours and the availability of support in emergencies,[iv] in addition to examining immigrant occupations or incomes. Broadly, integration can be defined as: • A process of unifying individuals and activities into a new system. It means that minority groups and the majority group develop a new way of living, which includes elements of the values and ideas of both groups. Integration also means that everyone finds a place in society. There are no fundamental divisions between groups.[v] • There are a number of sources of empirical data on immigration and integration in Ireland in addition to the CSO. Irish organisations utilising data provided by the CSO and/or developing independent numerate data include the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE), the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (DJELR), the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) and Foras Áiseanna Saothair (FÁS). However, much of the data from these sources are not publicly available or compiled in a useable form for researchers.[vi] • [i] Managing Migration in Ireland (2006) NESC Report No. 116, p. 171. • [ii] Fanning, B. (2007) Immigration and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland, Manchester: Manchester University Press. • [iii] Ní Mhurchú, A. (2007) Recognition of Professional Qualifications: An Analysis of the Role of Professional Bodies, Dublin: Integrating Ireland Publications. • [iv] Böhnke, P. (2007) Poverty and Social Integration in the Enlarged Europe, Social Science Research Centre Berlin, p. 10. • [v] UNITED for Intercultural Action, Information Leaflet No. 13. • [vi] Managing Migration in Ireland (2006) NESC Report No. 116, p. 10-12. Table 1: Basic Concepts in Europe and the US[i] [i] Source: World Migration 2005: Costs and Benefits of International Migration, IOM Publications, p. 142 • The 2006 Census Overview • The Irish Census of Population is the largest database of enumerated people in the country and is also the largest and most exacting statistical operation organised by the CSO. The census is extremely important for researchers of immigration and integration because: • It permits longitudinal understanding of the impacts of immigration • It provides information on a wide variety of related topics such as education, employment and socio-economic status • It allows researchers to examine geographical dispersion, which can help to illuminate spatial segregation[i] • In the 2006 Census some ten percent of a documented population of 4,172,013 were identified as foreign-born. Of these 112,548 were from the United Kingdom. The best 2007 estimate is that the 63,276 Poles resident in the state can be supplemented by about 10,000 who consider that they normally live in Poland but are regularly in Ireland.[ii] Some 16,633 Chinese and 35,812 of other Asian backgrounds were documented; the former accepted as a clear underestimation because only householders of Chinese residences in multiple occupations were counted.[iii] The census identified a black or black African population of 53,318. • [i] The smallest administrative area for which population statistics are published is the Electoral Division. According to the2006 Census, the largest population increase was in the ED of Blanchardstown-Blakestown in Fingal, where the population grew from 24,404 in 2002 to 32,305. The constituency of Dublin West, which is located within the county of Fingal, showed the greatest change in population (+26.8%) between 2002 and 2006 (see Figure 1). • [ii] Census 2006 cited in Irish Times 27 July 2007. • [iii] Minister of Integration, Address at University College Dublin 14 September 2007. Integration and Empirical Data 2 An examination of international literature reveals several common themes in respect of how integration is defined and quantified. In Table 2, four reports (one taken from Ireland, the UK, the US and the EU) are matched against a list of empirical indicators of integration. Importantly, these suggest a reasonable degree of consensus among international scholars on baseline empirical indicators of integration. • Using Surveys to Generate Empirical Indicators of Integration • Surveys are a rich and reliable source of empirical data on integration and can be used to generate composite indicators of integration. A number of international organisations such as the EU, UN and OECD collect data from member countries to generate comparative statistical reports, however, there are difficulties associated with using these data sources.[i] In the Irish context, the most reliable surveys for generating empirical indicators of integration are the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) and the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). • The purpose of the QNHS is to produce quarterly labour force estimates; however, this survey also permits the classification of annual migration flows by sex, age group, origin/destination and nationality. As such, the QNHS is of particular use to researchers of immigration and integration because: • It tracks seasonal changes in the labour force, identifies labour force deficiencies and highlights where these are being filled by immigrants • It helps to construct a general profile of migrant workers relative to the indigenous population[ii] • It identifies sectors of the labour force in which migrant workers are tending to cluster • EU-SILC is an annual survey that examines the income and living conditions of different types of households with a particular focus on poverty and social exclusion. As with the Census and QNHS, EU-SILC is of particular use to researchers of immigration and integration because: • It provides detailed income data on households and individuals • It estimates the number/proportion of persons at-risk-of-poverty and living in ‘Consistent Poverty’ • It examines the distribution of the population across equivalised income deciles (gross and net) • While the QNHS and EU-SILC are important data sources, it remains the case that these surveys still lack sufficient comparative scope to assess the relative integration of diverse immigrant communities. • [i] International survey data comparison is complicated and often contentious. This is due to a plethora of factors, which include differences in data collection practices, sample size, frequency, investigative areas and periodic comparison. In terms of periodic comparison, for example, the European Social Survey (ESS) is biennial while the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is conducted annually. Additionally, both the ESS and ISSP are carried out mainly in economically powerful democracies, questioning their ability to permit comparison with economically poorer countries. Perhaps most problematically for the researcher of immigration and integration, however, is that each individual nation is generally afforded a very small sample in multi-nation surveys. • [ii] Alan Barrett of the ESRI, for example, has used Quarter 2 data from the QNHS 2005 to examine the integration of immigrants into the Irish labour market, finding that these are on average significantly less likely to be in high-level occupations (controlling for factors such as age and education). (Barrett, A. and Duffy, D. (2007) Are Ireland’s Immigrants Integrating into its Labour Market? Working Paper No 199. Dublin: ESRI). Table 2: Empirical Indicators of Integration The 2006 Census ‘Ethnic’ Question In the 2006 Census a new question was included which asked people to list their ethnic/cultural background.[i] Nearly 95% of the usually resident population described themselves as ‘white’ (see Table 3). Persons of Asian or Asian Irish background accounted for a further 1.3 per cent, while those who ticked the African box in the Black or Black Irish section made up 1% of usual residents. [i] As King-O’Riain notes, the categories to this question – while not billed as a ‘race’ question – do nevertheless employ skin colour and meta-racial designations, even though the ticks are on ‘ethnic’ identifiers’. In the context of the Irish Census of Population, the usefulness of this question is unclear, particularly as it did not make ‘any other white’, ‘any other black’ or ‘any other Asian’ free text fields, which as King O’Riain points out, means that the categories might be very heterogeneous and of limited conceptual use. (King-O’Riain, R.C. (2007) ‘Counting on the ‘Celtic Tiger’: Adding Ethnic Census Categories in the Republic of Ireland’, Ethnicities, 7 (4): pp. 516-542). • Immigration, Social Inclusion and Integration • Within Irish and EU social policy debates a family resemblance can be seen between social inclusion goals and prevalent definitions of integration. This suggests some equivalence between indicators of social inclusion and indicators of integration. The modulewill pilot the desegregation of concrete indicators of integration which can be drawn from census data. For example, Ireland is characterised by high levels of home ownership. In this context home ownership levels constitutes a concrete index of integration. Other such indicators include numbers of immigrants with Irish-resident children. Analysis of the international literature suggests that vulnerable migrants are likely to experience housing marginalisation. The 2006 census reveals a rise in usually resident Irish-born children aged 0-4 with non-Irish born parents. The numbers of children with non-Irish or UK born parents rose from 869 in 1991 to 6674 in 2002 to 18254 in 2006.[i] Such data has implications for integration policy as do data on the numbers of such children living with lone parents (hypothetically vulnerable to social exclusion). In summary the module will: • Undertake a policy relevant analysis of measures of immigrant social exclusion as a basis for longitudinal analysis • Review existing data on perceived impact of immigrants on the spatial articulation of social disadvantage • Analyse electoral area (ED) and atomic data to examine impact of immigration upon localities categorised as ‘severely disadvantaged’ on Hasse deprivation index • Pilot analysis of ethnic breakdown of immigrants within localities categorised as ‘severely disadvantaged’ or ‘disadvantaged’ • Pilot analysis of immigrant population disaggregated by ethnicity using concrete indicators of integration. • Pilot analysis of disaggregated data to identify immigrant communities at risk of social exclusion, spatial pattern of immigrant social exclusion. • [i] Punch, A. (2006) Marriage, Fertility and the Family in Ireland: A Statistical Perspective, Dublin: CSO, p. 20. Table 3: Usual residents by ethnic or cultural background 2006[i] [i] Source: www.qnhsireland.net • Integration and Social Inclusion • Like integration, social inclusion is a concept that incorporates material, cultural and social dimensions, as reflected in the following government definition of poverty and social inclusion: People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as acceptable by Irish society generally. As a result of inadequate income and resources people may be excluded and marginalised from participating in activities which are considered the norm for other people in society.[i]The National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 identifies categories such as lone-parent families, people with disabilities and minority groups and uses ‘Consistent Poverty’[ii] as its principal measurement. Nevertheless, this report acknowledges that there is no single measurement that offers a complete picture of deprivation, poverty and social exclusion and instead, supports the drafting of a list of social inclusion indicators by EU member states, which are broken down by income, employment, education, health, housing and deprivation.[iii] • While composite indicators are necessary to the study of integration and inclusion, it is important that these topics are not viewed solely on these grounds. Research should encourage alternative perspectives (such as examining literacy levels, possession of medical cards/private medical insurance etc.)[iv] and should incorporate a greater focus on socio-spatial segregation. The emphasis of this research, building on the work of Trutz Haase, is on the need to disaggregate data to describe the particular experiences of diverse immigrant communities. Hasse’s work emphasises: • Data sharing (and agreed-upon terms and timeframes) among researching parties • Targeting those individuals, families and neighbourhoods that are most in need • Consistent ‘geo-coding’ of small geographical units • Making the visualisation and analysis of data available via a web-accessible GIS (Geographic Information System) • [i] National Anti-Poverty Strategy (1997), Department of Social and Family Affairs,p. 3. • [ii] Persons are regarded as being in consistent poverty if: (i) Their income is below 60% of median income, and (ii) They experience deprivation in relation to the list of deprivation items. The Revised Consistent Poverty Deprivation Index lists 11 items which range from the possession of two pairs of strong shoes and a warm waterproof overcoat to the capacity to buy presents for loved ones once a year and entertain guests at least once a month. Persons lacking in two or more items from this list are regarded as being in consistent poverty. In 2006, the percentage of ‘non-Irish nationals’ living in consistent poverty at 60% level using basic life-style deprivation indicators was 8.5%, compared to 6.8% of ‘Irish nationals’ (EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2006, CSO Publications November 2007, p. 12, 18). • [iii] See Annex 1, National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016, p. 86. • [iv] According to the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2006, 32.4% of Irish nationals have a medical card compared to 28.1% of non-Irish nationals, and 48.5% of Irish nationals have private medical insurance compared to 27.4% of non-Irish nationals (p. 23). • [v] See, for example, Haase, T. (2007) The Report of the Fingal Data Sharing Initiative, available at: http://www.fdb.ie/report_Co_Data_Initiative.pdf Why Disaggregate Data on Immigrants? All European countries have some minority ethnic populations that face disproportionate levels of social exclusion and marginalisation. A review of the international literature emphasises the heterogeneity of experiences of different groups with likely different experiences within groups (e.g. those of women or children) adding further complexity. For example, in Britain a picture emerges of shifts in the fortunes of some communities over time, the ongoing marginalisation of others and of communities experiencing different forms and levels of disadvantage.[i] Disparities between ethnic groups have been found in income levels, rates of employment and self-employment, types of employment, occupational status, educational attainment and levels of home ownership. Particularly vulnerable cohorts were identified within some communities on the basis of age and gender. The British experience also indicates that racism and discrimination are commonly experienced on the basis of ethnicity but with different consequences for different communities. This can be translated, in the Irish case, into a hypothesis that racism in Irish society may affect Travellers differently from various Nigerian, Chinese or Bosnian communities or that whilst overall immigrant educational attainment exceeds that of Irish citizens there are likely to be some immigrant communities who nevertheless experience educational disadvantage. Unless census and survey data are comprehensively disaggregated inequalities and experiences of marginalisation will remain obscured. Disaggregated data is crucial to enable targeted policies to address potential social exclusion amongst some immigrant communities. Currently releases of CSO Census Data and survey data is not comprehensively disaggregated on the basis of nationality or ethnicity. [i] Modood, T., Berthood, R., Lakey, J., Nazroo, J., Patten. S., Virdee, S. and Beishon, S. (1997) Ethnic Minorities in Britain, London: Policy Studies Institute.