Immigrants contribute to British society

From HOPE not hate by Elisabeth Pop:

“Britain must say 'no' to Eastern European workers, says Cameron” (The Telegraph, 28 Oct 2013)

“98% demand a ban on new migrants as thousands support our Crusade” (The “Crusade” launched by the Daily Express on 1 November to prevent a new surge of “Bulgarian and Romanian workers” to Britain has already gained 12,000 signatures)

“How do I claim benefits when I get to Britain? Romanians demand help from job agencies in the UK” (Daily Mail, 3 Nov 2013)

These are some of the daily instances in which political figures and the tabloid press use Eastern European migrants as (scapegoats) for many, if not all of the perceived ills in British society.

Hence, those rare occasions when professional, non-partisan research sheds some light and underlines the real facts behind the contribution of Eastern European migrants to this country, have to be signposted.

A new study by the University College London shows that recent immigrants are less likely to claim benefits and live in social housing than people born in Britain. 

Contrary to what the Government and populist parties and pressure groups would have you believe, this latest report shows that rather than being a "drain", European Economic Area (EEA - the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) migrants contribute three times more to British economy than they receive in benefits.

The study also discusses "benefit tourism" by EEA immigrants as being “disconnected from reality", confirming a recent European Commission study which has found that jobless EU migrants make up 1% of those claiming social benefits in EU member states and in the UK.

We know that over the next few months we have our work cut out in terms of myth busting over the Romanian and Bulgarian immigration, in view of their UK work restriction being lifted from 1 January 2014. But just as a heads up, Romanian migrants, who are part of this latest wave of EEA migration, find themselves pawns in a political and media strategy intended to shift British rhetoric and politics on immigration further to the right. 

According to compiled data from the ONS, DWP and British Labour Force Survey, more than 75% of Romanian citizens in the United Kingdom are aged 18-34, working full-time in skilled jobs or setting up their own businesses. They do not require access to social benefits, because their main reason to immigrate to the UK is to find a fairly paid job in line with their skills and work ethic. In fact, 95% of Romanians living in the UK are employed. Almost 40% have a university degree.