BACKGROUND
The second half of the twentieth century saw increased levels of immigration to the
United Kingdom from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The ageing of this South
Asian population will be rapid over the next decade. The research project Families
and Migration: Older People from South Asia, was developed to examine the
effect of migration on people as they age in both the United Kingdom and in sending
communities in South Asia. In particular, we were interested in the effects of
migration on the availability of support for older people. This is a regional report on
the findings for older Punjabis in the United Kingdom.
Earlier research, which focused on minority emigrant ethnic groups or ‘Asians’, did
not identify the specific factors associated with particular ethnic groups within that
category. This study aimed to move in the direction of differentiation between South
Asian ethnic groups within the United Kingdom.
This report is primarily descriptive and covers basic demographic characteristics;
migration history; health; education, language and religion; work and income; and,
family and social support systems. The earlier research, which did differentiate
between different Asian groups, did not differentiate between Gujaratis and Punjabis
– the two main Indian immigrant groups, but between Indians, Pakistanis and
Bangladeshis. This report focuses on older Punjabis in the UK and seeks to
describe their predominant family and social support systems at the beginning of the
21st century.
Immigration
Birmingham did not witness any significant immigration movement prior to the waves
of post-colonial immigrants from the late 1940s and early 1950s onwards (Woods
1979). From 1951-1971 the Indian population of Birmingham grew from 0.2% to
2.02% of the total population (Ratcliffe 1979). The 2001 Census is likely to show that
people from ethnic minorities form just under one third (30%) of Birmingham’s
population (Birmingham City Council 2001).
Most of Birmingham's present ethnic minority communities came from the New
Commonwealth and are on the whole representative of post-war immigration
patterns to Britain. The economic boom of the fifties resulted in a shortage of labour,
which attracted a flow of mostly young, single men who came to work in industries in
and around Birmingham. This was facilitated by the liberalism of the existing British
legislation on nationality and immigration, compared to other post-colonial European
states. Any person born on New Commonwealth territory (i.e. newly independent
countries that used to form part of the British Empire) was a British subject and could
enter British territory without restrictions.
The largest populations of New Commonwealth immigrants came from the
Caribbean, then, starting a few years later, from Pakistan and India. During the early
5 and mid 1960s there were migration streams of immigrants that were initiated by
employers, who actively sought to recruit employees from under-developed countries
(Piore 1979, Schmitter Heisler & Heisler 1986). Recruitment of foreign workers was
considered to be a temporary means of covering labour shortages with the
expectation that the employees would return home when there were no more labour
shortages in the host country. Temporary immigration has benefits for the
Government of the host country, as temporary residents are unable to make claims
on the welfare state (Freeman 1986). It has been argued that many immigrants from
the commonwealth and especially the “New Commonwealth and Pakistan” came to
the United Kingdom with the intention of remaining (Peters & Davis 1986).
The migration streams that had developed over time led to the formation of
settlements that contained residents who were more or less permanent (Piore 1979).
Once it became apparent that not all immigrants would return to their country of
origin the Government felt it necessary to enforce parliamentary Acts that restricted
access to the United Kingdom.
In 1961 the United Kingdom made its first application to become a member of the
European Economic Community. This signified the diminishing economic and
political importance of the Commonwealth and an increase in the importance of
European Union (Carter et al. 1996). In the House of Commons a group of Members
of Parliament: Sir Cyril Osbourne, Norman Pannell and John Hynd tried to associate
‘coloured immigration’ with notions of national identity. Immigration from the
Commonwealth was linked with ‘social problems’ for example, unemployment, poor
housing, venereal disease, vice and prostitution (Carter et al. 1993, Carter et al.
1996). The opinions of this group of politicians began to sway public opinion and in
July 1962 the Commonwealth Immigration Act came into effect (Carter et al. 1996).
The Commonwealth Immigration Act classified people wishing to enter the United
Kingdom into three categories: people with a specific job with a specific employer
(Voucher A); people with skills of qualification that were in short demand in the
United Kingdom (Voucher B); unskilled workers with no specific employment
(Voucher C) (Carter et al. 1996, Juss 1993). The Home Office regulated the number
6 of people in each category allowed to enter the country. In 1965 ‘Voucher C’ was
abandoned which meant that no unskilled workers without specific employment
could enter the United Kingdom (Carter et al. 1996).
The 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Act further restricted access of New
Commonwealth citizens. Only people with a ‘substantial connection with the United
Kingdom’ were allowed to enter freely (Ben-Tovim et al. 1982, Carter et al. 1996).
This prompted many immigrants to have their families join them in Britain while it
was still possible to ‘beat the ban’ - thus starting the diversification of the immigrant
population in Britain. The tenets of this Act were further strengthened in the 1971
Commonwealth Immigration Act. This Act defined the terms patrial and non-patrial.
Anyone who could not prove the existence of a parent or grandparent born in the
United Kingdom were non-patrial and were not allowed to enter the United Kingdom
and could be deported once in the country. The Act had the effect of considerably
slowing down the rate of emigration. By the 1970s, the immigrant population was on
the way to rapid diversification, with many organisations and businesses. Since then,
a second generation, born in Britain of parents of the New Commonwealth, has
emerged.
Immigration of Punjabis
The literature indicates that Punjabi immigrants mainly came to the UK in the 1960s.
The first Punjabi settlers in the UK were members of trading castes and later Sikh
soldiers, who remained in the UK after fighting in France during the First World War
(Ballard 1986). Military service in the Second World War again offered many young
Sikh men the opportunity to emigrate to the UK (Ballard 1986). Many emigrants were
from the Jalandhar district, a densely populated area in which our study communities
are situated. People in Jalandhar suffered from shortage of land and therefore the
means of self-support (Marsh 1967). The partition of India in 1947 meant that some
villages’ resources came under pressure due to the influx of refugees from Pakistan
(Helweg 1986).
A post-war rebuilding programme in Birmingham required much unskilled labour. In
addition, Birmingham’s industrial base expanded, significantly increasing the
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demand for both skilled and unskilled workers. During this time, Sikhs from the
Punjab arrived in Birmingham, primarily to work in the foundries and on the
production lines in motor vehicle manufacturing.
Emigrants to the UK in the 1950s were predominantly men who settled in inner city
areas. During the late 1960s and 1970s families left Punjab to be reunited with men
who had settled abroad (Ballard 1986). Some additional Punjabi immigration to the
UK from East Africa took place as a result of the Africanisation of labour and the
expulsion of Asians by Idi Amin (Kalka 1990).
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