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The United Kingdom was one of only three countries to allow migrants from accession countries to enter their labour markets more or less without restriction following European Union enlargement in May 2004. Therefore, it is important to establish the characteristics and labour market performance of migrants from these countries who have subsequently entered the United Kingdom. We principally analyse Labour Force Survey data to compare the labour market outcomes of recent migrants from Poland and other accession countries to those of earlier migrant cohorts from these countries as well as to those of other recent migrants to the United Kingdom. We find that the majority of post-enlargement migrants from the new member states have found employment in low paying jobs, despite some (especially Poles) possessing relatively high levels of education. It follows that recent Polish migrants typically have lower returns to their education than other recent arrivals. Migrants from the new member states who arrived immediately prior to enlargement have similar characteristics and labour market outcomes, apart from displaying a higher propensity to be self-employed. These results are discussed in the context of policy changes, migration strategies, assimilation effects and possible impacts on the sending countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant workers constitute a vital component of many Western labour markets. Although migrants can benefit greatly by moving to higher-wage economies, it is important to compare their labour-market outcomes with those of native-born workers. In this paper, we discuss factors that have been found to influence labour-market success in the receiving country and examine the actual performance of recent migrants to the UK. The UK provides a good case study for conducting such an exercise because of the very large increases in immigration that have been seen over the past decade. We find that labour-market performance varies greatly between migrant groups and that outcomes have changed noticeably following the UK government's decision to allow migrants from Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries more or less free access to the labour market after EU enlargement in 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]