THE INCREASE in immigration has no impact on rising unemployment in Britain, even during the time of recession, a new report has claimed.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that there was “no association” between higher immigration and an increase in Jobseeker’s Allowance claims.
The think-tank’s report conceded that immigration did have a “modest” impact on the less skilled, suggesting British workers faced more competition from migrants for low-skilled jobs, The Telegraph reports.
The NIESR said the government had repeatedly drawn a link between immigration and unemployment, with ministers warning employers not to rely on foreign nationals to take up posts that could be filled by Britons.
According to the report, Sir Andrew Green, Migration Watch chairman, said migrants from the eight former Soviet-bloc countries which joined the EU eight years ago, including from Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania, “tended to be disproportionately young, well-educated, prepared to work for low wages and imbued with a strong work ethic”.
He added it would be “implausible and counter-intuitive” to suggest that so-called “A8 migration” had virtually no impact on rising UK youth unemployment.
Jonathan Portes, director of NIESR, however, dismissed Sir Andrew’s comments as “nonsense”.
He pointed out that the youth unemployment in the UK has shot up since 2008 because of the recession and the lack of jobs, not because of migration.
