We hear almost daily that migrants threaten British jobs, and that migrant workers lead to a drop in wages for British workers. In reality, there is no evidence that migration drives down wages, particularly for the working class. Migrants themselves are disproportionately represented in low-wage sectors and research from the University College London has found that migration can actually lead to an increase in the wages of higher-paid workers. A recent government-commissioned report by the Migration Advisory Committee found that it is international financial forces, not migration, that impacts salaries, with all workers having done badly since the financial crisis of 2008. Real wages are still struggling to rise above where they were in the aftermath of that crisis and in many cases, migrant workers are actually leading the battle to ensure that standards rise for all workers.
The government claims that its new “points-based” migration system, introduced through the recently announced immigration bill, will “attract high-skilled workers”. But the proposals actually amount to a two-tier system which makes judgements on income, treats people as economic commodities and makes it impossible for anyone to live in the UK unless they are rich or have a PhD. By the government’s definition of “skilled”, most of us in the country are unskilled.
Take the fact that more than one in five workers in the care sector were born outside the UK, or that on average, carers earn less than £18,000. These are the people who spend their days looking after people in their hour of greatest need, a hugely emotionally and physically demanding job – yet they fall far below the salary threshold the government has set at £25,600. The proposals do nothing but make businesses and industry insecure, and risks decimating the NHS.
People who perpetuate the false notion that migrants drive down wages often also claim that migrants are abusing our welfare system. Memes and viral Facebook posts often claim that “illegal” immigrants are always “first in the queue” for housing, benefits and are a drain on the NHS. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. As shown by the latest report from the Office for National Statistics on immigration, it’s students who make up around half of all non-EU immigration and the majority of EU nationals predominantly arrive to work. Health tourism is almost non-existent, with the NHS spending more on stationery than on treating people who aren’t eligible for NHS care. The government’s own estimate puts the cost of deliberate misuse of the NHS by overseas visitors at 0.3 per cent of the NHS budget – the majority of this is actually British expats living overseas, who are not “ordinarily resident” in the UK and return to the UK solely to use the NHS outside of the rules.
Migrants of all kinds do pay for NHS services and have done for many years. The Immigration Health Surcharge, which is included as part of visa applications, means that migrants actually pay for the NHS twice over – £1,000 a year as part of their visa application, and then payments through their tax contributions.
In fact, most people who come to live in the UK have “no recourse to public funds”, meaning they are not eligible for benefits. Even asylum-seekers, who are barred from working, are left to live on just £5.39 per day, and struggle to support themselves and their families. What’s more, the “hostile environment” denies anyone without documentation the right to benefits, banking, driving licences and employment.
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/07/immigration-policy-will-bar-half-a-million-care-workers-from-eu
The GMB estimates the policy will have an impact on up to half a million jobs in the UK. Its analysis of official figures reveals that more than 350,000 adult care workers were born outside the UK in the year to September 2019 – a figure that has risen by 43% in the past decade. About 115,000 care workers are originally from an EU country and 237,000 workers were born outside the EU. Overall, almost a fifth of the care sector’s workforce was born outside the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, there are an estimated 110,000 vacancies in adult social care. The sector has a vacancy rate of 8%, compared with an average of 2.8% across all sectors.
Under immigration rules, due to come into force on 1 January 2021, most businesses will be barred from recruiting overseas workers for jobs that pay less than £25,600 a year.
The average salary for care workers employed by private providers was £16,200 last year.
care workers will not receive special visa dispensation, unlike graduates, scientists, NHS staff and agricultural workers. Priti Patel, the home secretary, dismissed concerns over the immigration reforms and insisted that any labour shortages could be filled by recruiting “economically inactive” people in the UK to do “low-skilled” jobs.
Harrison said: “For too long, care workers have faced inadequate rates of pay, lack of recognition for their skills and denial of opportunities for progression. We are determined to defend our members of all nationalities when their jobs are under threat. ... The demand on social care services is increasing every day, workloads are already unmanageable and the government has no plan for filling the black hole of almost half a million workers that could result from their policy. At a time when our care system is facing its greatest-ever crisis, this government seems determined to hack away at its greatest asset – our carers.”
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