The Spectator - 'Coffee House' blog:
EU immigration hasn't hurt jobs or wages. Here's why:
12 May 2016
This morning's national insurance figures have further stoked the debate about immigration, and the extent to which leaving the EU would make a difference. Many British people are concerned that high levels of immigration have hurt their jobs, wages and quality of life. ... So it does make sense that many people believe this immigration wave has hurt UK workers and think that leaving the EU would make things better. To investigate this we crunched the most recent data and scoured the evidence in our new report. The bottom line is that EU immigration has not significantly harmed the pay, jobs or public services enjoyed by Britons. In fact, for the most part it has made us better off. Far from EU immigration being a 'necessary evil' that we must bear in order to gain access to the greater trade and foreign investment generated by the EU Single Market, immigration is at worst neutral and at best another economic benefit of membership.
This article was published online by The Spectator 'Coffee House' blog on May 12, 2016
Link to article here
Related publications
Brexit and the Impact of Immigration on the UK, Jonathan Wadsworth, Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano and John Van Reenen, CEP Brexit Analysis Series No.5, May 2016
See the complete set of CEP Brexit Analysis research papers here.
Related links
Jonathan Wadsworth webpage
Swati Dhingra webpage
Gianmarco Ottaviano webpage
John Van Reenen webpage
Labour Markets Programme webpage
Trade Programme webpage
Growth Programme webpage