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”
Pete Duncan
Yes, and what are we going to do when all these new arrivals reach pensionable age? Kick them out one day before they qualify? More pie-in-the-sky economics – let’s get this straight, once and for all. More people now = bigger pension liabilities in the future. There is simply no way round that fact, however much you try to wish it away. Increasing the population to pay for our pensions now, simply kicks the can down the road so we don’t have to deal with the problem of an ageing population base. But the next generation will have to deal with the problem – except that thanks to us, it will be an even bigger problem for them. Even if we had full employment it wouldn’t stop a future pensions crisis if the government merely spent everybodies NI contributions on other pet schemes like every other government has since the mid-1960’s. Do you think the funding for Pensions (both general OAP and public-sector employees) comes from NI contributions? Nope, hasn’t done for decades. Our current pension liabilities are met from general taxation, NI is not really ‘insurance’ at all – it’s just another payroll tax. The current workforce pays for all public-sector expenditure, hence as the number of OAP’s increases and the number of working-age people declines, the burden grows bigger on the remaining workers. You can solve this problem (temporarily) by importing more workers, but this method relies on them all being in employment (and paying taxes) all their working lives, and also on them not making any existing potential workers economically inactive, i.e. it only works if you create NEW jobs for them, not merely increase COMPETITION for existing jobs. And eventually, all these new workers will all become OAP’s who require welfare, pensions and healthcare themselves, so as i said earlier, all you have managed to achieved is postponing the inevitable.
SadButMadLad
You attempt to say that previous Labour policy was correct and the right thing to do. You do so by saying that the migrants are beneficial in economic terms. You fail on that point.
Only economic migrants do that, and they are the ones that bring money and skills to the country. Most migrants don’t do that. Admittedly they don’t suck benefits from the system either. But they don’t provide a lot of taxes either.
But you also fail because you ignore the elephant in the room. The massive and uncontrolled changes to society. Society is an organic thing. It changes slowly. It assimilates slowly. It doesn’t like change.
Labour’s policies imposed drastic societal changes without any member of society having a say so. And when people don’t feel in control, it’s the same as when individuals get stressed. Just like individuals getting ill through stress, society gets ill.
Rather than feeling guilty about past empires and thinking that you have to allow different cultures to do everything their way rather than assimilate you should be harsh. Immigrants should come here because they can add to the country, not take from it. Immigrants should come here because they want to join the existing society, not impose their own.
jack johnson
It is so amusing that a left wing site like Left Foot Forward attracts so many fascist contributors.
They all look at the problem from the wrong end of the telescope,when government policy
reduces spending on all public services and fails to provide enough social housing then these
things naturally come under severe pressure.The failure of government to produce meaningful
employment and services is then blamed on somebody else.It’s called ‘divide and rule’ and has
been going on since the Romans. Hitler blamed the jews, the Tories always blame immigrants.
Instead of encouraging tax evasion and avoidance by sacking HMRC workers and allowing tax
havens and multinational companies to pay no tax, various estimates put this at between 60
and £120 billion per annum,there would be plenty in the kitty to provide services and invest
in industry and research and development.
jack johnson
It is so amusing that a left wing site like Left Foot Forward attracts so many fascist contributors.
They all look at the problem from the wrong end of the telescope,when government policy
reduces spending on all public services and fails to provide enough social housing then these
things naturally come under severe pressure.The failure of government to produce meaningful
employment and services is then blamed on somebody else.It’s called ‘divide and rule’ and has
been going on since the Romans. Hitler blamed the jews, the Tories always blame immigrants.
Instead of encouraging tax evasion and avoidance by sacking HMRC workers and allowing tax
havens and multinational companies to pay no tax, various estimates put this at between 60
and £120 billion per annum,there would be plenty in the kitty to provide services and invest
in industry and research and development.
jack johnson
It is so amusing that a left wing site like Left Foot Forward attracts so many fascist contributors.
They all look at the problem from the wrong end of the telescope,when government policy
reduces spending on all public services and fails to provide enough social housing then these
things naturally come under severe pressure.The failure of government to produce meaningful
employment and services is then blamed on somebody else.It’s called ‘divide and rule’ and has
been going on since the Romans. Hitler blamed the jews, the Tories always blame immigrants.
Instead of encouraging tax evasion and avoidance by sacking HMRC workers and allowing tax
havens and multinational companies to pay no tax, various estimates put this at between 60
and £120 billion per annum,there would be plenty in the kitty to provide services and invest
in industry and research and development.