Immigration: Impact Of EU Immigrants

Impact of EU immigration on;

I. Public Finances and Public services - After trying to account for the many possible ways in which individuals pay taxes or draw welfare, it was found that EU immigrants made a positive fiscal contribution: they paid more in taxes than they received in welfare payments . The central estimate of the Office for Budget Responsibility given is that the UK’s national debt will be 40 percentage points higher in 2062 if net immigration is reduced to zero from 140,000 per year. By contrast UK nationals received more in benefits than they paid in taxes. Because of the net contributions made, there is no reason to think that EU migrants should crowd out any public services. It is in fact seen that they are bringing extra

If the UK were to leave the EU but wanted to remain a member of the European Free Trade Area or the European Economic Area, it may have to accept unrestricted EU immigration just as all other countries like Norway or Switzerland do. Only a looser trading agreement with higher trade costs would potentially enable the UK to restrict work-related EU immigration in much the same way as non-EU immigration is restricted. If EU immigration were cut following Brexit, then something like the current visa scheme that applies to non-EU immigrants would have to be adopted to accommodate immigration from the EU. Therefore decisions would have to be taken on whether to expand the quotas in place and which groups with certain skills to allow. It is likely that after Brexit, skilled EU immigration would be cut and non-EU skilled immigration would not be

Political challenge – Replacing free movement with a work permit system will not automatically fix public concerns on migration. It involves discussions on various political issues like the policies involved in migration and the levels that should be allowed. This tends to take a long time and involves tedious controversies and varied points of view.

Conclusion

We cannot be precise about the size of the losses from restricting immigration following a Brexit. But it is noted that evidence shows EU immigration has not had significantly negative effects on average employment, wages, inequality or public services at the local level for the UK-born. Nor, it should be said, are there large positive effects. Any adverse experiences of UK-born workers with regard to jobs and wages are more closely associated with the biggest economic crash that’s happened.

At the national level, falls in EU immigration are likely to lead to lower living standards for the UK-born. This is partly because immigrants help to reduce the deficit: they are more likely to work and pay tax and less likely to use public services. It is also partly due to the positive effects of EU immigrants on productivity. Trade and foreign investment are inclined to fall after Brexit, both of which would reduce UK incomes. A lower immigration rate is a channel that will push UK living