Occupational distribution and mobility of migrants born in South Asia: evidence from England/Wales Census, 1901–1911

Abstract

ABSTRACT South Asians constitute Britain's largest ethnic minorities, yet very little is known about their migration history in the prewar era. Recent literature has begun to challenge the widely held view that South Asian migration to Britain was a post-war phenomenon in response to Britain's need for labour as it emerged from two costly wars. The literature has demonstrated that the South Asian presence in Britain can be traced back to the seventeenth century. This paper adds to that literature by analysing the occupation distribution and mobility of South Asian-born migrants during the early twentieth century. Regression results from the 1901 and 1911 Censuses of England and Wales suggest that relative to other foreign-born and British-born, South Asian-born immigrants were primarily employed in white-collar jobs, a position they largely retained until at least 1911. These results suggest that the South Asian diaspora was economically well assimilated into the British economy.