This report uses the complete 2016 Irish Census to measure four indicators of skills and labour market outcomes, comparing migrants with respondents born in Ireland: English language ability, educational attainment, unemployment and occupational attainment. Surveys in this area typically use respondents’ continental region of birth but this approach can mask large differences within broad regional categories. This report uses Census data that allows its authors to compare indicators by respondents’ country of birth. It then investigates some potential explanations for why some migrants perform better than others in the Irish labour market, taking into account both characteristics of their country of birth and those of the migrants themselves.
Perhaps the strongest finding of the report is that there is significant country-of-birth variation in outcomes within regions, and that in many cases variation within regions is greater than variation between them.
