Fluency in English has a significant impact on the pay and job prospects of UK immigrants
from ethnic minorities. According to new research by Christian Dustmann and Francesca
Fabbri, published in the July 2003 issue of the Economic Journal, English language
proficiency increases the likelihood of immigrants being in employment by 22 percentage
points and is associated with 18-20% higher earnings.
The study analyses the determinants of fluency and literacy in the host country language for
immigrants from ethnic minority groups in the UK, as well as the effect of language proficiency
on employment and wages. Language proficiency is probably the single most important factor
in the process of immigrants' economic assimilation and social integration.
The study finds that:
Acquisition of the English language is strongly influenced by education, age and years of
residence in the host country.
Language proficiency is negatively associated with ethnic concentration at ward level of
immigrants of the same ethnic origin.
The are two problems in identifying the causal relationship between language proficiency
on the one hand and employment probabilities and the level of earnings on the other:
first, those who find it easier to learn the language may at the same time have higher
employment probabilities or wages; and second, there is the possibility of
mismeasurement of the language variable.
Dustmann and Fabbri’s results suggest that measurement error leads to a downward
bias in the estimates of language on employment probabilities and earnings, and that the
true effects are larger than are suggested by simple regression analysis.
The researchers’ best estimates suggest that fluency in English increases employment
probabilities by about 22 percentage points. Furthermore, ordinary regression estimates
show that proficiency in English is associated with 18-20% higher earnings. Estimates
that take account of both measurement error and endogenous selection are slightly
larger.
According to the Labour Force Survey of 2000, immigrants (defined as individuals who were
born outside the UK) account for around 9% of the working age population of the UK. The
results of this study refer only to those immigrants who belong to ethnic minority communities –
according to the Labour Force Survey, 49% of the total immigrant population in the UK.
The analysis is based on data from two UK surveys on ethnic minorities: the Fourth National
Survey on Ethnic Minorities, which was collected in 1993 and 1994, and the Family and
Working Lives Survey, which was collected in 1994 and 1995.
ENDS
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Notes for Editors: ‘Language Proficiency and Labour Market Performance of Immigrants in
the UK’ by Christian Dustmann and Francesca Fabbri is published in the July 2003 issue of the
Economic Journal.
The authors are in the Department of Economics at University College London, Gower Street,
London WC1E 6BT.
For Further Information: contact Christian Dustmann on 020-7679-5832 (fax: 020-7916-
2775; email: c.dustmann@ucl.ac.uk); or RES Media Consultant Romesh Vaitilingam on 0117-
983-9770 or 07768-661095 (email: romesh@compuserve.com).
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