Times of economic downturn appear to fuel xenophobic views, and current restrictive immigration policies are sometimes backed by a discourse portraying migrants as a threat to the social condition of UK citizens, threatening their employment or ‘draining’ the welfare state. This picture of migrants as a burden for taxpayer has been recently broken by official data, showing that migrants claim less benefit than British citizens.
A UK National Statistic (ONF) report released on January 20th under the title “Regional characteristics of foreign-born people living in the United Kingdom” states that in most regions “…a smaller percentage of foreign-born people claim state benefits/tax credits than UK-born”.
When this is not the case, as in West Midlands and London, the difference “is negligible,” states the ONF. Interestingly, in the places where the percentage of foreign-born people claiming state benefit is the lowest, such as in Scotland (26%) or in the North East, the difference with the UK-born people is even more marked.
The ONF data goes hand in hand with Home Office research published in 2002 to assess that people do not arrive in the UK hoping to exploit the welfare state. This research found that immigrants pay more tax that they take in benefits, which was partly explained by the age structure of the immigrant population, which is disproportionately of working age and therefore consuming less state-provided services and paying more taxes. Furthermore, the UK isn't exactly the welfare paradise for immigrants that some newspapers seem to refer to. Asylum seekers for example are not allowed to claim normal welfare and live on a paltry amount below that which the Government states is the minimum necessary for UK benefit claimants to be able to live. Many live in destitution, sometimes homeless, especially those who are appealing their case. The Refugee Council states that, “most asylum seekers are living in poverty and experience poor health and hunger.“
The study also provides an overview of the profile of immigrants, such as their occupation or main trends in religion and ethnicity. It disproves another common misconception, showing that, with the exception of West midlands, where the majority of the population is ethnically Asian, ‘white’ is the largest ethnic group in all areas of the country.
By Carine Dreau
