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Originally Posted by Taf
And more money spent in the UK by those workers and not sent "back home" where living costs are lower.
And don't forget that those who have worked here will be entitled to pensions even if they are no longer living here. Both Brits and others.
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We're just creating another pensions time-bomb. The only realistic 'answer' to the UK's problems is not never ending population growth, it's improved productivity.
It's odd how migrants are simultaneously lauded for a) doing all the low paid, manual jobs, lazy Brits don't want b) paying more tax than their indigenous peers whilst taking less benefits, c) propping up our economy with their spending, d) repatriating large, much needed funds to their home nations, e) keeping the NHS & other services afloat whilst f) putting an insignificant burden on them.
Sorry but it doesn't add up. For one thing, anyone working at near the minimum wage will be paying virtually nothing in income tax* and will very likely qualify for relatively generous in work benefits, tax credits etc. When they arrive they may well be young, fit and single but when they have children and as they grow older they become just as much a cost to the state as anyone else.
* By my maths, someone on £15k a year will be taxed at 20% on £4k which amounts to income tax of £800 pa. That doesn't buy much by way of NHS time...
The figures shown from 2012 show what sort of in work benefits migrants are entitled to and how relatively generous they are. In work benefits include: income support, housing benefit, CB and tax credits.
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Conclusion
15. The UK is far more generous than most other EU15 countries in topping-up low wages by just over 80% through in-work and housing benefits. This makes employment in the UK a very attractive for migrants from less wealthy EU member states, especially after adjusting for differences in the cost of living.
16. Access to unemployment benefit is also much easier than in other EU countries.
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http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/284