Study finds 85% of undocumented migrants working
Migrants living and working in Ireland come from at least 75 different countries including the Philippines, China, Ukraine, Pakistan, Brazil, Bangladesh and South Africa. Almost 17% are from the Philippines, 14% from China and 8% from the Ukraine.
Contrary to popular belief, the data shows that the undocumented migrant population is not made up of young single men, but tends to be older, with significant numbers of women and large numbers of families with children who have been settled in Ireland for several years.
The report, carried out by the Migrant Right Centre of Ireland, is based on data collected from 1,250 undocumented migrants seeking assistance from the centre over a two-year period, and a more in-depth survey of 100 people.
The study found:
* 85% of migrants were in some form of employment in the state.
* 64% have been in the same employment for over two years.
* 21% have been in the same employment for five years or more.
* 33% were families with children including one family with four children who had an income of less than €200 per week.
Restaurant and catering was found to be the largest job sector for undocumented migrants at 34%, followed by domestic work at 15.1%, cleaning and maintenance at 6.6%, construction at 6.4%, and shop and retail at 5.8%. About 37% are in full-time employment, 45% work part time and 11% were unemployed.
Of the migrants surveyed, just over 50% of respondents had an income of less than €300 per week and 33% were families with children.
More than 40% were married. Of those, 62% said they live with their spouse in Ireland. Almost 60% have children under 18 and 4% indicated having four or more children.
About 87% were in Ireland for four or more years, and 95% said they intended to remain living and working here. Of those who have a spouse with them in Ireland, 27.5% were providing childcare in the home and 57% were in employment.
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