Dd101_Tma06

Evaluate the claim that migrants represent a threat to the UK economy. In recent years their has been a vast influx of migrants to the UK. Migrants do have an effect and impact on the UK economy. The benefits and costs of migrants has been greatly debated. This assignment will focus on who are classed as migrants, as this in its self has been debated and different organisations use different classifications to meet their own needs. Mainly the government and Migration Watch. Migration Watch are the main group against migration. This assignment will also focus on if and how migrants pose a threat to the UK economy. Firstly who are classified as migrants' This can be difficult to define. Different definitions produce different quantitative evidence so can be distorted. “ According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS, 2009), a long term international migrant is someone who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination becomes the country of usual residence.” (Raghuram 2009, Pg 164). This movement is one way of defining a migrant. Other criteria that is used is a person’s country of birth. The term foreign born is used to identify migrants. This however has its flaws as some one who has lived in this country for many years and are now citizens are classed the same as people who have just arrived. Citizenship is also important but can be difficult in studying migration. Some can be classed as migrants under one category but discounted under another. This is a controversial issue as do migrants represent a threat to the UK economy' To explain if migrants represent a threat to the UK economy then you need to know the theories behind migration. There is three main theories of migration. The first of these is the push-pull theory. In this theory the person is pushed away from their usual place of residence and pulled towards other places. This could be due to conditions in which they live and pay. The strengths of this theory is that it is easy to understand and it favours the importance to economic factors. The weakness is that it fails to take into account other surrounding factors such as social factors; family and friends. It does not take into account immigration control. The second theory is social networks. This theory takes the focus away from the individuals own choices and can explain why groups decide to move at the same time. This is a strength of this theory. A weakness of this is that it does not take into account the economic factors such as conditions, environment and pay. It shows the present time but does not show the larger picture over time. The third theory is looking at migration through a historical context. The strengths of this theory is that it looks at the inequalities of economic and political factors. This theory shows that if we look far enough back in time then most people would have moved in some way. The weakness of this is that it focuses too much on the inequalities. For the purpose of this assignment the focus will be on external migration. People coming into the country. There is also internal migration where people move from one place to another within the UK. Internal migration does effect the economy but not to the greater extent external migration does. In 2004 the UK opened its borders to migrants from eight Eastern European countries. This caused an influx of migrants to the UK. According to some this influx has put a strain on the economy. Migration Watch an anti-immigration group reported “that migrants cost the UK economy 100 million pounds a year”. Yet a report from the government (Gott and Johnson, 2002) made an opposite claim stating “migrants contribute nearly 25 times that much, 2.5 billion pounds a year.”(Raghuram 2009, Pg 165) These two claims are very different. Who we define as a migrant comes into these claims. Migration watch includes a large amount of children in its calculations therefore this would be seen to cost the economy more money as they are unable to contribute to the economy. The UK economy pays out for the children’s health care and education. Migration watch also includes children from mixed households where one parent was UK born and the other from abroad. The government does not include these children in their report. Between 1997 and 2009 2.2 million people came to live in Britain than those who left to live abroad. This can be seen to put real pressure on the UK economy. It puts pressure on the economic factors such as schools, housing and health care. It also puts pressure on communities. In a news article for the BBC in January 2007 Migration watch UK says “the economic benefit is equal to four pence per week for each person” the Home Office counter claims this by saying “that there is a clear consensus that migrants have helped the economy to grow”(BBC news January 2007) Another way of looking at the value a migrant brings to the UK economy is by the theory of `human capital`. Human capital is “the economic value of the education, experience and skills of an individual.”(Exploring Social Lives Pg 173). In his book The Wealth of Nations 1776 the economist Adam Smith suggested that four inputs which produce wealth are land, buildings, machinery and human beings. The human capital theory focuses on the fourth input. Susan Anderson of the Confederation of British Industry reports “Migrants to the UK bring valuable skills and ideas with them and help to fill job vacancies where Britons are unable or unwilling to do so.” (BBC news January 2007). Skills that are valued in migrants are medical, information technology (IT) and management skills. Migrants can help build institutions and some rely heavily on migrant workers to fill gaps in employment. This is easily seen within the National Health Service (NHS). Younger people are seen as more valuable than older people. This could be that they input more into the economy through taxes whereas older people could be seen to take from the economy. Many of the older generation of the UK who have emigrated may cause a threat to the UK economy. Some are still receiving a pension paid by UK tax payers as in 2004 it was estimated that over two billion pounds was paid to roughly one million pensioners in other countries. This is clearly a huge threat to the economy of the UK as the government is paying the pension into accounts of people staying in other countries therefore the money is not being spent in the UK and being spent on the maintenance of foreign countries. Migrants which have created businesses here in the UK use their connections abroad to produce goods. This creates an economic link connecting migrants with places globally. This use of connections can be described as Diaspora “a geographically dispersed population who share some links to a common home-real or imagined.” (Exploring Social Lives Pg 182). This globalisation creates a flow of people, ideas, goods and money between the UK and other countries. This is good for the UK economy as it links and connects nations. Migrants serve to increase trade between the UK and the countries they have come from. Looking at the claim that migrants represents a threat to the UK economy, there is arguments for and against. The government and Migration watch use their own quantitative data to support their claims. There is positives and negatives to this claim. The governments data shows migrants coming into this country does benefit the UK economy. Whereas Migration watch makes the opposite claim saying that migrants coming into this country actually costs the UK economy. The BBC reported “Neither the government nor Sir Andrew Green of Migration watch had tried to work out the overall economic effect of immigration which would be impossible complicated”(BBC news January 2007). From the same news report the Bank of England analysis suggested the effect of new migrants was complex. To get an accurate image of migrants and if they represent a threat to the UK economy more information is needed. Migrants need to be clearly defined so that all groups are reading from the same quantitative data so as not to confuse the issue. The government or Sir Andrew Green of Migration watch does not seem to have accurate information about the levels of the migrants. Migrants need to be tracked more accurately to determine their economic status. Word count 1434 References Raghuram. P. (2009) Migration: Changing, connecting and making places, in Bromley. S., Clarke. J., Hinchliffe. S. and Taylor. S. (eds) Exploring Social Lives. Milton Keynes, The Open University. BBC News 3rd January 2007 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/622617.stm What you found interesting about this assignment. I found the topics covered interesting. It was interesting to see different claims seemingly using the same quantitative evidence. What you found difficult about this assignment. I found it challenging as migration is such a vast subject which did not seem to come up with complete answers.