Immigration lowers wages for low-skilled UK workers.

Is it true that Immigration lowers wages for low-skilled UK workers?

Partly. Evidence on whether immigration lowers low-skilled wages is mixed and mostly partial: a UK fact-check reports studies find immigration affects low-waged workers most negatively but with small, short-term effects, while a US economics handbook and a Korean firm-level study find little or no effect on less-skilled native wages.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 4 sources for, 3 against · Last checked 16 Oct 2026

Immigration. (n.d.). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration

Dong, M., Lee, J., & Yang, H. (2023). How does low-skilled immigration affect native wages? Evidence from Employment Permit System in Korea. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpad011

What does immigration do to wages? – Full Fact. (n.d.). fullfact.org. https://fullfact.org/immigration/immigration-wages/

Gould, E. D. (2018). Explaining the Unexplained: Residual Wage Inequality, Manufacturing Decline and Low-skilled Immigration. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1111/ECOJ.12611

Wikibooks: Principles of Microeconomics/Immigration. (n.d.). en.wikibooks.org. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Principles_of_Microeconomics/Immigration

Does immigration to the USA increase the unemployment rate?. (2016). skeptics.stackexchange.com. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/35606/does-immigration-to-the-usa-increase-the-unemployment-rate

Chiswick, B. & Miller, P. W. (2014). Handbook of the Economics of International Migration. play.google.com. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=7UV9AwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_api