EU migrants make a fiscal contribution of £20bn to U.K. finances

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

According to a fresh study, European immigrants to U.K. from 10 countries which joined the EU in 2004, have fairly contributed £5bn more to country’s finances in the years to 2011 than they benefitted through public services.

A report by University College London’s (UCL) Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (Cream) published on Wednesday, has further revealed that immigrants from outside the EU took more aid from the public purse than they put back within the same period.

Going back another decade, European immigrants made a positive fiscal contribution of £4.4 billion to Britain from the time period between 1995 and 2011, whereas immigrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) made a negative fiscal contribution of £118 billion. In the same period, U.K.-born workers made a negative contribution of £591 billion.

And having a glance at the recent arrivals in a decade between 2001 and 2011, the picture improved for both EEA and non-EEA immigrants, with European arrivals making a positive fiscal contribution of £20 billion and those from outside Europe making a positive net payment of £5 billion.

Immigration has become an issue dominating political debate ahead of next year’s election.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing immense pressure and threat from the anti-EU and anti-immigration U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) as the elections are approaching. The Recent trends shows that Tory party is losing votes to UKIP and Conservative ministers are intensifying their rhetoric with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon talking of towns and communities being “swamped” by migrant workers. 

The Conservative party leader wants to curb EU immigration in case of winning general election 2015, a plan which has drawn criticism from the European Commission and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Director of UCL’s Cream and co-author of new research, Professor Christian Dustmann has said: “A key concern in the public debate on migration is whether immigrants contribute their fair share to the tax and welfare systems.

“Our new analysis draws a positive picture of the overall fiscal contribution made by recent immigrant cohorts, particularly of immigrants arriving from the EU.”

Prof. Dustmann has also added that the new findings indicate that a higher fiscal contribution by EU immigrants is due to “their higher average labour market participation compared with natives and their lower receipt of welfare benefits.”

Article viewed on Oye! Times at www.oyetimes.com.

Share with friends
You can publish this article on your website as long as you provide a link back to this page.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*