This study examines the relationship between social capital and labour market integration of new refugees in the UK using the Survey of New Refugees (SNR). Our findings suggest that length of residency and language competency broaden one’s social networks. Contacts with religious and co-national groups bring help with employment and housing. The mere possession of networks is not enough to enhance access to employment. However, the absence of social networks does appear to have a detrimental effect on access to work. The type of social capital appears to have no significant impact on the permanency or quality of employment. Rather, language competency, pre-migration qualifications and occupations, and time in the UK are most important in accessing work. Our findings also have clear implications for both asylum and integration policy. The unequivocal importance of language ability for accessing employment points to a clear policy priority in improving competency.
AgerAStrangA (2004) Indicators of Integration: Final Report. Home Office Development and Practice Report 28. London: Home Office.
2.
BerryJW (1997) Immigration, acculturation and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review46(1): 5–68.
3.
BhatiaSRamA (2009) Theorizing identity in transnational and diaspora cultures: A critical approach to acculturation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations33(2): 140–9.
4.
BlochA (2002) Refugees Opportunities and Barriers in Employment and Training. DWP Research Report No. 179. London: Department of Work and Pensions.
CantleT (2005) Community Cohesion: A New Framework for Race and Diversity. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
7.
CastlesSKoracMVastaMVertovecS (2002) Integration: Mapping the Field. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8.
CebullaADanielMDevineCTippingS (2010) Survey of New Refugees: Technical Notes. London: HMSO.
9.
CheungSYHeathAF (2007) Nice work if you can get it: Ethnic penalties in Great Britain. In: HeathAFCheungSY (eds) Unequal Chances: Ethnic Minorities in Western Labour Markets. British Academy Proceedings 137. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.
CIC (2007) Our Shared Future. Wetherby: Commission on Integration and Cohesion.
11.
ClarkKDrinkwaterS (2007) Ethnic Minorities in the Labour Market: Dynamics and Diversity. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Bristol: Policy Press.
12.
CLG (2012) Creating the Conditions for Integration. London: Department for Communities and Local Government.
13.
FinneyNSimpsonL (2009) Sleepwalking to Segregation?Bristol: Policy Press.
14.
FoleyMEdwardsB (1999) Is it time to disinvest in social capital?Journal of Public Policy19(2): 141–73.
15.
FyvieAAgerACurleyGKoracM (2003) Integration: Mapping the Field Volume II: Distilling Policy Lessons from ‘the Mapping the Field’ Exercise. Home Office Online Report 29/03. London: Home Office.
16.
HallS (1990) Cultural identity and diaspora. In:RutherfordJ (ed.) Identity and Difference. London: Sage, 221–37.
17.
Home Office (2000) Full and Equal Citizens: A Strategy for the Integration of Refugees into the United Kingdom. London: HMSO.
18.
Home Office (2005) Integration Matters: National Strategy for Integration. London: Home Office.
19.
Home Office (2009) Moving on Together: Government’s Recommitment to Supporting Refugees. London: Home Office.
20.
KalterF (2011) Social capital and the dynamics of temporary labour migration from Poland to Germany. European Sociological Review27(5): 555–69.
21.
KoracM (2003) Integration and how we facilitate it: A comparative study of the settlement experiences of refugees in Italy and the Netherlands. Sociology37(1): 51–68.
22.
mbA (1999) Creating the Conditions for Refugees to Find Work. Report for the Refugee Council, London.
23.
MestheneosEIoannidiE (2002) Obstacles to refugee integration in the European Union member states. Journal of Refugee Studies15(3): 304–20.
24.
Office for National Statistics (2010) Standard Occupational Classifications. Volume 1: Structure and Descriptions of Unit Groups. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
25.
PhillimoreJ (2011) Monitoring for equality? Asylum seekers and refugees’ retention and achievement in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). International Journal of Inclusive Education15(3): 317–29.
26.
PhillimoreJ (2012) Implementing integration in the UK: Lessons for integration theory, policy and practice. Policy and Politics40(4): 525–45.
27.
PhillimoreJGoodsonL (2006) Problem or opportunity? Asylum seekers, refugees, employment and social exclusion in deprived urban areas. Urban Studies43(10): 1–22.
28.
PutnamR (ed.) (2002) Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
29.
RamMJonesTEdwardsPKiselinchevAMuchenjeLWoldesenbetK (2012) Engaging with super-diversity: New migrant businesses and the research–policy nexus. International Small Business Journal. DOI: 0266242611429979.
30.
SalesR (2002) The deserving and the undeserving? Refugees, asylum seekers and welfare in Britain. Critical Social Policy22(3): 456–78.
31.
SchibelYFazelMRobbRGarnerP (2002) Refugee Integration: Can Research Synthesis Inform Policy? Feasibility study report, RDS online Report 13/02. London: Home Office.
VertovecSWessendorfS (2010) The Multiculturalism Backlash. London: Routledge.
35.
ZetterRPearlM (2000) The minority within the minority: Refugee community-based organisations in the UK and the impact of restrictionalism on asylum seekers. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies26(4): 675–97.
36.
ZetterRGriffithsDSigonaNHauserM (2002) Survey on Policy and Practice Related to Refugee Integration. Oxford: Oxford Brookes University.
