THE PROBLEM OF RETURN MIGRATION UNDER A POLICY OF ASSISTED LABOUR MOBILITY: AN EXAMINATION OF SOME BRITISH EVIDENCE*
| Author | P. B. Beaumont |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1976.tb00040.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1976 |
| Date | 01 March 1976 |
Britbh
Journal
of
Indwtrfal
Relations
Vol.
XIV
No.
1
THE PROBLEM
OF
RETURN MIGRATION UNDER A POLICY
OF
ASSISTED LABOUR MOBILITY: AN EXAMINATION
OF
SOME
BRITISH EVIDENCE*
P. B. BEAUMONT?
INTRODUCTION
ONE
of the major criteria for evaluating the success of a policy of assisted labour
mobility involves the question of how many relocatees adjust to their new work
and social environment and remain in the receiving area for a specified period of
time following relocation. A high wastage rate from the demand area means that
part of the gain from a policy of this type
will
only
be
short term or transitory in
nature. In fact the major force working to undermine the basis of a favourable
benefit-cost ratio for a policy of assisted labour mobility
is
the extent of return
migration. In practical terms high rates of return migration may also reduce the
willingness of employers to use the scheme as a means of recruiting labour. The
size of (and reasons for) return migration are therefore as important for public
policy as the identification and reduction of the general obstacles to mobility in the
first place.
Despite its obvious importance, knowledge concerning the extent of such return
migration in Britain is virtually non-existent due
to
the absence of empirical work.
Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to take a first step in the direction of
remedying this deficiency by examining the operation of the Employment
Transfer Scheme (henceforth referred to as the E.T.S.) in four exchange areas in
Scotland for the eighteen-month period January
1973
to June
1974.
The major
task of the paper is to identify the size of wastage rates experienced under the
scheme. Some possible explanations of return migration, with their implications
for policy reform,
will
also be presented.
The E.T.S. (formerly the Resettlement Transfer Scheme) was introduced in
April
1972.
The scheme is designed
to
assist unemployed workers to move away
from home and take up employment in another area. In order to qualify for
assistance a worker must,
in
addition to being unemployed or liable to redun-
dancy within
six
months, transfer beyond daily travelling distance of
his
present
home to full-time employment in a new area. There are additional qualifying
conditions for workers who do not live in assisted areas. A full statement of the
conditions and benefits of the scheme has been set out in various issues of the
Department of Employment Gazette.’
Scotland is overwhelmingly the major user area (for people
leaving
an area)
of
the transference policy, accounting for just under
30
per cent of total movement
during the years
19667
to
19734.2
A study of the policy’s operation in Scotland
should therefore provide a good basis for examining the full effects of assisting
labour to relocate from regions of high ~nemployment.~ In conjunction with the
Edinburgh Office
of
the Department of Employment we identified the exchanges
that were responsible for the majority of Scotland’s E.T.S. work. We then chose
from
this
list the following key exchanges for case study purposes; Glasgow
I
am
grateful to Professor
L.
C.
Hunter for helpful comments
on
an
earlier draft
on
this
paper.
My thanks
also
go
to
a number of officers
in
the Employment Services Agency who
assisted
with
the provision
of
information. But responsibility for the content is solely
mine.
Graduate Student Department of
Social
and
Economic Research, University of Glasgow.
82
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