London's growing Latin American population face high levels of exploitation and discrimination
New research highlights that the Latin American community in London has
increased significantly over the last decade and although comparable in size to
other large migrant and ethnic groups in the capital its contribution and needs
have largely been ignored.
No Longer Invisible is the most comprehensive research to date of this largely
overlooked community and was commissioned by charities Trust for London and
the Latin American Women's Rights Service. Produced by Queen Mary,
University of London the report establishes the first robust estimate of the size of
the community and explores a number of key economic and social features of the
Latin American community in London.
The size of the Latin American community in London is estimated to be 113,500
and it has grown nearly four-fold since the 2001 census (the UK figure is
estimated to be 186,500). This means that Latin Americans now represent a
significant part of the city's total population. Their numbers compare in size to
other large migrant and ethnic groups, such as the Polish-born population, which
comprises around 122,000.
The largest national group are Brazilians followed by Colombians. There are also
large numbers of Ecuadorians, Bolivians and Peruvians.
The research primarily draws its findings from a large quantitative survey, of over
1,000 Latin Americans living in London. It shows that:
• It is a largely young and well educated population which has very high
employment rates (85%).
• Although employed in all spheres of London's labour market the majority are
unable to fully utilise their professional skills. More than half are employed in lowskilled
and low-paid jobs in cleaning, catering and hospitality services, despite
previous careers such as teaching, accountancy, engineering and social work.
• Over 40% of Latin Americans experience workplace abuse and exploitation.
Shockingly 11% of Latin American workers are illegally paid below the National
Minimum Wage, which is 10 times higher than the average rate for the UK
population (1.1%).
• Despite lower than average incomes, take-up of public services and state
benefits is low: 1 in 5 Latin Americans have never been to a GP, 6 out of 10 have
never been to a dentist in the UK and only 1 in 5 receive some form of state welfare
benefit (which are primarily in-work benefits such as tax credits).
• The majority of Latin Americans (70%), including the second generation who are
fluent in English, perceive discrimination to be a major barrier to improving their
quality of life.
Tania Bronstein, Chair of Latin American Women's Rights Service said: "For too
long the Latin American community has been ignored. The population estimate
shows we are comparable in size to the capital's Polish, Bangladeshi and
Pakistani communities. It is important we are counted, especially by Government
agencies, so that our contribution and needs are not ignored.
It is only when we are visible that issues uncovered by this research, such as the
low rate of registrations with GPs and dentists by Latin Americans, are identified
and can be addressed," she added.
"This research shows the scale of the challenges facing Latin Americans in
London," said Bharat Mehta, Chief Executive of Trust for London "Although most
of the capital's Latin American community are working hard, many are facing high
levels of exploitation and abuse and as a result experiencing significant poverty
and hardship. This should be of concern to all of us and there is a need for this to
be addressed.
We are particularly concerned that such a large number of Latin American
workers are being illegally paid below the National Minimum Wage. At ten times
the UK rate there is an urgent need for the Government to enforce the law."
The report will be launched at City Hall on 19 May. The event will be opened by
the Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes, who chairs London's Strategic
Migration Partnership.
Ends
Note for Editors:
Media enquiries
Iain Taylor: 01732 740573 or 07979 914217
No Longer Invisible draws its findings from a large quantitative survey, with over
1,000 respondents, complemented by 50 in-depth-interviews and several focus
groups, which managed to reach different socio-economic groups and Latin
American nationalities. The population estimate is drawn from an analysis of
several official datasets and triangulation of this against the quantitative survey.
Trust for London is the largest independent charitable foundation funding work which
tackles poverty and inequality in the capital. It supports work providing greater
insights into the root causes of London's social problems and how they can be
overcome; activities which help people improve their lives; and work empowering
Londoners to influence and change policy, practice and public attitudes. Annually it
provides over £7 million in grants and at any one point is supporting some 400
voluntary and community organisations - www.trustforlondon.org.uk
The Latin American Women's Rights Service is a charity set up in 1983 to
address practical and strategic concerns of Latin American migrant women in the
UK. It directly engages with over 4,000 women every year through programmes
that provide tools for personal and social change and which focus on promoting
economic security, tackling violence against women and girls, and on improving
opportunities for successful integration - www.lawrs.org.uk
Queen Mary, University of London was rated as one of the world's elite
universities in the 2010 Times Higher Education's Top 200 World University
Rankings. Dr Cathy McIlwaine is based in the School of Geography, which was
ranked joint first in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, with three quarters
of its research rated as world-leading/internationally excellent. She is one of the
few senior academics in the UK working on Latin American migration to London.
She has an established research career based on two decades of working in Latin
America, combined with recent research on migrants and London's low-pay
economy - www.geog.qmul.ac.uk - 020 7882 8418 or c.j.mcilwaine@qmul.ac.uk
The report will be launched at City Hall at 2.30pm on Thursday 19th May. The
event will be opened by the Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes, who chairs
London's Strategic Migration Partnership. Speakers at the event will include the
researchers Dr Cathy McIlwaine and Juan Camilo Cock from Queen Mary,
University of London. City Hall is at the Queen's Walk, More London, London SE1
2AA. If you would like to attend please contact events@trustforlondon.org.uk
The full report and a summary will be available at:
www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/latinamericansinlondon
Summaries in Spanish and Portuguese will also be available.
For full editors notes please download the Press release LA.pdf