Housing needs to be considered as an important part of integration policy, according to the Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman.
His comments mark the publication of findings by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which used 2016 Census microdata to compare the housing situation of people born in Ireland with first-generation migrants.
The ESRI found that many migrants have a much higher risk of overcrowding and homelessness than Irish-born.
In 2016, 56% of all migrants were living in private rented housing, compared to 13% of Irish-born.
A total of 75% of Polish migrants – one of the largest migrant groups in Ireland – lived in private rented accommodation.
Around 8% of Irish-born individuals lived in overcrowded accommodation in 2016, which the ESRI has described as a “relatively low proportion when compared internationally”.
In contrast, almost 20% of migrants in Ireland lived in overcrowded accommodation.
There were high overcrowding rates among some non-EEA migrants, including migrants from the Middle East and North Africa (37%), Sub-Saharan and Other Africa (39%), South Asia (41%) and East Asia (37%).
Migrants who lived in Ireland longer were less likely to be renting or live in overcrowded accommodation.
The research found that for a substantial number of migrants who came in the period 2000 to 2009, private renting and overcrowding rates were still much higher than for Irish-born.
The Census data also showed that non-Irish nationals were over represented among homeless people in Ireland; non-Irish nationals comprised 11% of the total population. Non-Irish nationals made up 25% of persons in homelessness.
Lead author of the report, Dr Frances McGinnity, said addressing “major current challenges” in the Irish housing market would benefit migrants disproportionately in overcrowded accommodation and in homelessness.
“Addressing general tenants’ rights issues, such as security of tenure in the private rental market and protection from rising rents, will benefit all those in the private rented sector, including many migrants,” she said.
Mr. O’Gorman said access to suitable housing was “essential for successful integration” in the long term.
“Migrants are heavily concentrated in the private rental sector and face higher risks of overcrowding and homelessness. These findings demonstrate that we need to consider housing as an important part of integration policy,” he said.
Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/0411/1291578-migrant-report/
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