Now that we've pulled apart the idea that newly-arrived immigrants are being fast-tracked to social housing ahead of indigenous Britains, it's worth a quick look at the myth that immigrants are somehow a drain on the economy; that there is a pressing need to "get tough" with them, send them home, afflict various hardships on them, whatever takes your right-wing fancy.
Now that we’ve pulled apart the idea that newly-arrived immigrants are being fast-tracked to social housing ahead of indigenous Britains, it’s worth a quick look at the myth that immigrants are somehow a drain on the economy; that there is a pressing need to “get tough” with them, send them home, afflict various hardships on them, whatever.
Much like the scaremongering over social housing, the perception that immigrants are somehow a drain on the country is built on a foundation of xenophobic sand.
As a 2009 study has noted, immigrants from the “A8 countries” – that is the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Poland – are around 60 per cent less likely than natives to receive state benefits or tax credits or to live in social housing.
The report added that “even if A8 immigrants had the same demographic characteristics of natives, they would still be 13 per cent less likely to receive benefits and 28 per cent less likely to live in social housing”.
In 2008-09 – the year prior to the study – A8 immigrants paid 37 per cent more in direct or indirect taxes than they received in public goods and services.
And here is the important bit: in 2008-09 – at the height of Labour’s policy of so-called “uncontrolled immigration” – A8 immigrants contributed 0.96 per cent of total tax receipts and accounted for only 0.6 per cent of total expenditures (see table).
As Left Foot Forward has previously pointed out, immigrants are helping to pay for our pensions.
33 Responses to “EU migrants flooding over here…paying for our pensions”
BenM_Kent
Great post.
Old Albion
Of course we could stop immigrants coming in and employ our ‘native’ population, who would then be “paying for our pensions”
Mick
Indeed Albion. As even a recent House Of Lords committee found, immigration has little or no net benefit to the UK, especially when it comes to pensions.
Especially as the swarms of new migrants grow old themselves, ‘requiring’ even MORE immigrants to pay THEIR pensions too.
Google BBC IMMIGRATION SMALL BENEFIT TO UK.
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The report claims that if net immigration of 190,000 people per year continued over the next 20 years, it would contribute to a 10% increase in house prices.
It adds: “The available evidence suggests that immigration has had a small negative impact on the lowest-paid workers in the UK and a small positive impact on the earnings of higher-paid workers.”
And there was a “clear danger” immigration had hit training and apprenticeships offered to British workers.
Mick
Especially the name-calling. ‘Xenophobic’… The Left have fake scientific terms for most they disagree with.
But you have to admire Leftists going the whole way. Merely saying ‘I do not agree’ is pretty limp for them. Names also get called. And rude ones too, as I can testify.
Jack
I’m sorry the Government have admitted that there is no data what so ever on how many migrants claim benefits or have access to social housing, as the data is not collected. The “estimates” are mere guesses designed to stifle any debate on this as your post is largely trying to do. You don’t honestly expect them to say 90% of new social housing went to migrants, could you imagine what hostility and xenophobia that would create?
A House of Lords Economic Committee report from last year shows the net benefits from migrants from those A8 countries as zero. Whether that it is correct, we don’t know, but there is indisputably a strain on hospitals, schools, the countryside and the transport networks in the UK, particularly in England, where people feel it’s out of control and no-one is offering a proper solution that comprises of proper and enforced border controls. We have 256,000 extra school places to find before the autumn of 2014; we have 8 jobs in Costa Coffee and 1,700 people applying; we have 22 jobs at DFS and 2,500 people applying.
Let’s grow up about this issue and any attempts to try and close down debate on this issue will merely prove the cat is well and truly out of the bag on this issue and thank goodness it is, because it’s a subject that will dominate discussion up to the General Election and it’s something we need to control; exactly like the Canadians and New Zealanders, I don’t hear cries of “racism” towards those countries, do you?