New migrants who can work are viewed more favourably by settled populations in South Wales; however, employment does not guarantee that they will be welcomed into their new communities. This is according to research published today (15 July) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It found that economic integration was a necessary, but insufficient, factor for inclusion and cohesion in communities.
Not all migrants are able to work. This caused problems in some of the poorer areas studied, where the lives of both migrant and settled communities were marked by struggles for scarce resources, bad experiences with housing and restricted social mobility. While migrants sometimes interpreted this as racism, the settled community interpreted these problems as people in power “just not caring”.
The research, conducted by a team at Cardiff University, looked at a range of communities in South Wales and found that poverty and deprivation have a negative impact on attempts to build cohesion. Nevertheless, work to ensure migrants are welcomed into their new communities needs to go beyond the poorer areas. Even in wealthier communities where overall cohesion appeared better, researchers found cases of isolated and potentially vulnerable individuals – particularly women and older people.
The study found that a good deal of the work in building inclusive communities appeared to fall on middle-class minority ethnic or migrant community leaders, who were often poor, and working below their skill levels or as volunteers. However, their contribution seemed to go largely unrecognised.
Terry Threadgold, one of the report’s main authors, said: “The government needs to concentrate on ensuring inclusion – this means equal access to education, employment and healthcare for everyone. Only then can cohesion follow.”
