The B.E.Journal of Economic Analysis Policy,Vol.7 [2007],Iss.I (Advances),Art.62 Table 1:Selected Characteristics of Natives and Foreign-Born Variable Natives Foreign West Asia European Aust./ Born Indies N.Z. of Tot.Imm.Pop. 5.9 20.89 33.55 2.48 Years FT Education 11.24 11.91 11.19 10.89 11.34 13.48 High Education 13.12 19.67 13.81 14.43 15.60 33.87 Inter.Education 47.55 52.64 34.94 33.00 39.75 54.04 Low Education 39.32 39.12 51.26 52.58 44.64 12.09 Age 36.46 40.31 44.79 38.15 44.72 31.96 Claiming UB 7.70 8.61 14.12 12.22 7.57 4.46 a:Data:British Labour Force Survey (LFS),1983-1990.Regions definition:Asia: India,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Asian Ugandans;Europe:EU (old definition,before 1991);Australasia:New Zealand and Australia. Education:High education:university degree,higher education;Intermediate edu- cation:A-levels and O-levels and equivalent or other qualification;Low education: no qualification. the overall immigrant population in Britain.In table 1 we display some of the key characteristics of these groups,where numbers are drawn from the British Labour Force Survey (LFS).Most noteworthy is the educational composition of the immigrant population.Unlike the US and many European countries. immigration to the UK is,and has always been,relatively high skilled,with im- migrants having on average higher levels of schooling than native born whites.10 In the table,we report two measures of education:the years of full-time school- ing,and three levels of education.On average,immigrants have slightly more years of education than the native born,but there is variation across the three groups.The distribution of educational achievement is likewise similar be- tween the groups,with immigrants being 6 percentage points more likely to hold a degree or have higher education,while about equally likely to have no qualification at all.Immigrants from Australia/New Zealand have the highest level of education,with on average more than 2 years more full-time educa- tion than white natives,and with 34%obtaining university or post-secondary higher education,compared with only 13%among natives.Asians and immi- grants from the West Indies are similar to natives at the high end of the skill distribution,but have a substantially higher fraction of individuals with low educational backgrounds.Overall,Australians/New Zealanders appear to be 10Although the table considers only subgroups of immigrants,the same is true for Britain's overall immigrant population,see Dustmann and Fabbri(2006)for details. http://www.bepress.com/bejeap/vol7/iss1/art62 10Table 1: Selected Characteristics of Natives and Foreign-Born Variable Natives Foreign West Asia European Aust./ Born Indies N.Z. % of Tot. Imm. Pop. 5.9 20.89 33.55 2.48 Years FT Education 11.24 11.91 11.19 10.89 11.34 13.48 High Education 13.12 19.67 13.81 14.43 15.60 33.87 Inter. Education 47.55 52.64 34.94 33.00 39.75 54.04 Low Education 39.32 39.12 51.26 52.58 44.64 12.09 Age 36.46 40.31 44.79 38.15 44.72 31.96 % Claiming UB 7.70 8.61 14.12 12.22 7.57 4.46 a : Data: British Labour Force Survey (LFS), 1983-1990. Regions deÖnition: Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Asian Ugandans; Europe: EU (old deÖnition, before 1991); Australasia: New Zealand and Australia. Education: High education: university degree, higher education; Intermediate edu￾cation: A- levels and O-levels and equivalent or other qualiÖcation; Low education: no qualiÖcation. the overall immigrant population in Britain. In table 1 we display some of the key characteristics of these groups, where numbers are drawn from the British Labour Force Survey (LFS). Most noteworthy is the educational composition of the immigrant population. Unlike the US and many European countries, immigration to the UK is, and has always been, relatively high skilled, with im￾migrants having on average higher levels of schooling than native born whites.10 In the table, we report two measures of education: the years of full-time school￾ing, and three levels of education. On average, immigrants have slightly more years of education than the native born, but there is variation across the three groups. The distribution of educational achievement is likewise similar be￾tween the groups, with immigrants being 6 percentage points more likely to hold a degree or have higher education, while about equally likely to have no qualiÖcation at all. Immigrants from Australia/New Zealand have the highest level of education, with on average more than 2 years more full-time educa￾tion than white natives, and with 34% obtaining university or post-secondary higher education, compared with only 13% among natives. Asians and immi￾grants from the West Indies are similar to natives at the high end of the skill distribution, but have a substantially higher fraction of individuals with low educational backgrounds. Overall, Australians/New Zealanders appear to be 10Although the table considers only subgroups of immigrants, the same is true for Britainís overall immigrant population, see Dustmann and Fabbri (2006) for details. 10 The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, Vol. 7 [2007], Iss. 1 (Advances), Art. 62 http://www.bepress.com/bejeap/vol7/iss1/art62