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Voters are often misled about immigration
Politicians like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage have tried to paint a bad picture of immigration
their main arguments stem from the economic model of supply and demand
immigrants are attracted to the excess profits produced by richer, first-world countries like the USA, the UK, Germany etc
immigrants will therefore move to those countries in uncontrollable droves
this leads to an over-supply of cheap labour - this increases unemployment rates and pushes wages down in labour markets
This argument doesn’t always hold
Just like you, immigrants aren’t always attracted to move to a totally new country because of money
there are other factors to consider when moving such as:
family ties
being compatible with the country’s culture
fear of the unknown
being able to speak the language
A good example of this is Greece - they are part of the EU and have been for decades
their economy hit rock bottom in 2013
Greek citizens could have easily moved to other countries within the EU, as there were no barrier to entry
however, only about 3% of the population (350,000 people) ended up relocating
Studies have even shown that people are generally unwilling to move even within the same country
one of these studies is about Indians living rurally in the regions of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
citizens of these rural areas can double their incomes if they moved to a city
however, only a small percentage of the 100 million poor people in these areas actually decide to relocate
Money, alone, is not really a good enough motivator for human beings. There are many more factors to consider. This model is overly simplistic and doesn’t take into account the variables involved in the human experience.
Immigration can help boost the economy and provides new opportunities for the country
Immigrants bring greater demand as well as supply
if you lived in a town which had suddenly increased in population, you might think these people would directly compete for your job
but you’d also find that the shops and businesses in the local area became far busier
small business like restaurants and cafes would probably benefit greatly - this would increase demand for lower-skilled workers
Immigrants add to the economy’s productive potential
immigrants start new businesses
this means more inputs are used to make outputs - this increases GDP
the increase in output will need more labour inputs - this means businesses will employ more people
a perusal of top Fortune 500 companies in 2017 showed that 43 percent of America’s highest-earning companies were founded by immigrants or their descendants
Steve Jobs’ biological father came from Syria
Henry Ford was also of Irish descent
Immigrants often don’t compete with native workers’ jobs
they usually have different skill sets and education levels
therefore, they don’t have as big an impact on native workers’ sector of the economy
Employers care about the value they get from their employees
employees are paid a wage, but in return they offer their labour hours
employees which are more productive get paid more - employers care about the efficiency of labour, not just the wage rate
this is why high-performing mangers/directors get paid huge salaries and big bonuses when they hit targets
Employers want to reduce their costs of hiring people, so they work to find the right person for the job
hiring people costs money e.g. putting up a job advert, training workers, paying pension contributions etc
therefore, employers would rather the right person the first time around (that’s why interview processes are sometimes so vigorous)
locals often have skills that recent arrivals don’t have, like speaking the language fluently
a Danish study showed that in areas with a higher percentage of immigrants, Danish workers were more likely to leave manual labour for more skilled jobs
Immigrants tend to get jobs that the natives are unwilling to do
e.g. cleaning, mowing lawns or childcare services
these labour markets might see depressed wages, which can upset those labour markets
however, cheaper childcare services might mean you’re better able to afford it if you get a higher-paid, skilled job