Point 1: Perception and Reality do not always align
Duffy and Frere-Smith (2013) published their report on perception versus reality where immigration's impact on the UK labour market are concerned. The report highlighted several gaps between perception and reality, such as the composition of immigrants being largely asylum-seekers (most are students), and the fact that concerns about immigration have been rising recently. They also highlight that concerns are often surrounding impact on public service and benefits, but ignore positive elements like the tax contribution and economic benefits of immigrants.
This study supports the findings of Dustmann and Preston (2007), which held that residents of the UK were mostly concerned about the impacts of immigrants in terms of paying taxes and using the welfare system. They found two areas where such concerns were disconnected from reality. One being that such concerns were outsized in proportion to the actual relevance of that particular issue, and the other being that more important concerns, such as big picture things like impact on wages and employment, were actually not as important. These findings illustrate more that cognitive bias and the way public debates are framed have a far strong influence on public perception than things like facts and rational analysis.
Point 2: Immigrants make a generally positive contribution
Dustmann and Frattini (2014) published their study on the fiscal effects of immigration in order to lend expert analysis to the debate about whether immigrants are positive or negative for the fiscal health of the UK. Among their key findings was that immigrants generally had a positive impact on the fiscal health of the UK, even during economic downtimes.
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In particular, they found a positive effect for immigrants from EEA countries, the strongest impacts coming from "immigrants coming from countries that joined the EU in 2004", which stands in direct contrast to many of the political narratives about Eastern European immigrants in the UK.
Dustmann et al (2003) also found that higher immigration "appears to be associated with higher wage growth in the currently resident population" (p.4). Findings of a different Home Office report in 2014 showed consistency with these findings (Devlin et al, 2014). It is worth noting that both of these studies were careful to point out certain deficiencies with the data that was available, and the challenges associated with measuring immigration effects in general, However, that the results are consistently positive across multiple studies is also worth keeping in mind, that immigration has at the very least no net negative effect.
Point 3: Immigrant Impacts on Native-Born are….....
Anderson, B. & Rogaly, B. (2005) Forced labour and migration to the UK. TUC Report Retrieved March 6, 2018 from http://ccem.elteg.com/media/anderson_2005_forced_labour_and_migration_uk.pdf
Duffy, B. & Frere-Smith, T. (2013) Perceptions and reality: Public attitudes towards immigration. IPSOS Mori Social Research Institute https://www.ipsos.com/DownloadPublication/1634_sri-perceptions-and-reality-immigration-report-2013.pdf
Dustmann, C., Fabbri, F., Preston, I. & Wadsworth, J. (2003) The local labour market effects of immigration in the UK. Home Office. Retrieved March 6, 2018 from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctpb21/reports/HomeOffice06_03.pdf
Dustmann, C. & Frattini, T. (2014) The fiscal effects of immigration to the UK. The Economic Journal. Vol. 124, pp. F593-643.
Dustmann, C., Frattini, T. & Preston, I. (2013) The effect of immigration along the distribution of wages. Review of Economic Studies. Vol. 80 (2013) 145-173.
Dustmann, C. & Preston, I. (2007) Racial and economic factors in attitudes towards immigration. BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy Vol 7 (1) 1-41.
Manacorda, M., Manning, A. & Wadsworth, J. (2011) The impact of immigration on the structure of wages: theory and evidence from Britain. Journal of the European Economic Association. Vol. 10 (1) 120-151.
The Economist (2014) What have the immigrants ever done for us? The Economist. Retrieved March 6, 2018 from https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21631076-rather-lot-according-new-piece-research-what-have-immigrants-ever-done-us
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