The economic effects of migration vary widely. Sending countries may experience both gains and losses in the short term but may stand to gain over the longer term. For receiving countries temporary worker programs help to address skills shortages but may decrease domestic wages and add to public welfare burden.
The economic effects of migration for both sending and receiving countries may also vary depending on who is moving, specifically with respect to migrant workers’ skill levels. For sending countries, the short-term economic benefit of emigration is found in remittances. Remittances are funds that emigrants earn abroad and send back to their home countries, mainly in order to support families left behind. According to the World Bank, remittances totaled $529 billion worldwide in 2012, with $401 billion of that money flowing into developing nations (2013).
Significantly, these figures only account for funds sent through formal channels, so the amount of remittances is likely much larger than these numbers suggest (9). The World Bank notes that remittances sent through informal channels could add at least 50 percent to the globally recorded flows (UNCTAD, 2011-2018).
Migration is a feature of social and economic life across many countries, but the profile of migrant populations varies considerably. In part this is because of the variety of sources of migration. In much of Europe, for example, citizens enjoy extensive rights to free movement. In Australia, Canada and New Zealand, managed labour migration plays an important role. Other sources include family and humanitarian migration.
Whatever its source, migration has important impacts on our societies, and these can be controversial. The economic impact of migration is no exception. Benefit or burden – what’s the reality? To answer this question, it can be helpful to look at migration’s impact in three areas – the labour market, the public purse and economic growth (9).
Impact on labour markets:
- Migrants accounted for 47% of the increase in the workforce in the United States and 70% in Europe over the past ten years;
- Migrants fill important niches both in fast-growing and declining sectors of the economy;
- Like the native-born, young migrants are better educated than those nearing retirement;
- Migrants contribute significantly to labour-market flexibility, notably in Europe. Impact on public purse/budget:
- Migrants contribute more in taxes and social contributions than they receive in benefits;
- Labour migrants have the most positive impact on the public purse; 12
- Employment is the single biggest determinant of migrants’ net fiscal contribution. Impact on economic growth:
- Migration boosts the working-age population;
- Migrants arrive with skills and contribute to human capital development of receiving countries;
- Migrants also contribute to technological progress.
Understanding these impacts is important if our societies are to usefully debate the role of migration. Such debates, in turn, are essential to designing policies in areas like education and employment that maximise the benefits of migration, especially by improving migrants’ employment situation. This policy mix will, of course, vary from country to country. But the fundamental question of how to maximise the benefits of migration, both for host countries and the migrants themselves, needs to be addressed by many OECD countries in coming decades, especially as rapid population ageing increases demand for migrants to make up shortfalls in the workforce.
What changes can be expected in the coming years? Which main fields of conflicts and potential social tensions should be better taken into consideration?
Europe is facing the most serious migration challenge since the end of the Second World War. Aspects of managing the various tasks are covered by numerous legal instruments. EU action consists in promoting and implementing immediate and long-term measures, but attention is also focused on the internal and external dimensions of migration policy and on the EU’s external borders. The instruments implemented oscillate around:
- return and readmission of irregular migrants who have no right to enter or stay in the EU, ● combating the smuggling of migrants,
- protection of the EU external borders,
- creating legal entry opportunities for persons in need of international protection, – establishing an asylum policy based on a balance between solidarity and responsibility, ● addressing migration issues in cooperation with third countries,
- the possibility to allocate funds skilfully.
Despite the migration crisis that has lasted for four years, its impact on the labour market (both Polish and European) is the subject of very little research. It is difficult to determine why this is the case. Perhaps the inability to determine how many immigrants currently reside in the territory of Europe prevents reliable observations. Available sources draw attention to many factors that determine the impact of migration on the labour market in two ways – both positively and negatively. A distinction should be made already at the level of the country of origin of immigrants, which often determines attitudes towards life in the country where they settled.
Migration, regardless of the reasons behind it, presents families with both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, it may result in loosening of family ties, breakdown of marriages or developmental problems in children. On the other hand, it may lead to involvement of the so-far neglected parent in childcare, improvement of living conditions in the family or improvement of children’s educational opportunities.
The current big problem is financial debt in family conflicts. People leaving for work usually choose to maximise their savings or to maximise their income, but the author points out that people who earn more income, migrate by saving and gaining a good life for their family in Poland usually alienate themselves from their family back home. Which is really paradoxical.
There are also people who try every opportunity to earn and send money to the country, even drug smuggling. However, when such a person does not see any profit from his action, he usually falls into a state of alienation and stops any activity.
