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From low-skilled to key workers: the implications of emergencies for immigration policy

Author

Listed:
  • Mariña Fernández-Reino
  • Madeleine Sumption
  • Carlos Vargas-Silva

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased public awareness of the extent to which the economy relies on a low-wage workforce. Many of those lower-waged occupations that have been recognized as essential in the emergency are heavily dependent on migrant workers. We explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for future immigration policies and provide an example using data for the UK. We suggest that there are three key considerations for governments in this context. First, whether the management of emergencies themselves requires a certain type of immigration policy. Second, whether the experience of the current pandemic brings to light new information about the ‘value’ of certain types of immigration. Finally, whether immigration is the right response to pandemic-driven increases in labour demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariña Fernández-Reino & Madeleine Sumption & Carlos Vargas-Silva, 2020. "From low-skilled to key workers: the implications of emergencies for immigration policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 382-396.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:36:y:2020:i:supplement_1:p:s382-s396.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/graa016
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Fasani & Jacopo Mazza, 2023. "Being on the Frontline? Immigrant Workers in Europe and the COVID-19 Pandemic," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(5), pages 890-918, October.
    2. Nivorozhkin, Anton & Poeschel, Friedrich, 2022. "Working conditions in essential occupations and the role of migrants," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 250-261.
    3. Tina Magazzini, 2021. "Antidiscrimination Meets Integration Policies: Exploring New Diversity-Related Challenges in Europe," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Senyo Dotsey & Audrey Lumley-Sapanski & Maurizio Ambrosini, 2023. "COVID-19 and (Im)migrant Carers in Italy: The Production of Carer Precarity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-18, June.
    5. Daniel J. Beers, 2020. "The End of Resettlement? U.S. Refugee Policy in the Age of Trump," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-44, July.
    6. Cörvers, Frank & Reinold, Julia & Chakkar, Saena & Bolzonella, Francesco & Ronda, Vera, 2021. "Literature review labour migration," ROA Technical Report 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).

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