This article talks about how asylum seekers in European countries are not allowed to work until 6 months of arrival and even then, 75% of their income is taken to cover room and board while they live in government run housing. Studies show that the long-term gains to everyone of allowing refugees to work outweigh the short-term costs, not just to the public purse, but to natives’ jobs and wages. In America the average refugee becomes a net fiscal contributor just eight years after arriving. Moreover, Germany has allowed municipalities to adapt their refugee-integration policies to local conditions, whereas Scandinavian countries have one-size-fits-all policies. Scandinavian countries could come up with better policies to integrate their refugee population as studies shows that although vast majority of them have low paying jobs, a large number of these move on to higher skilled higher paying jobs. The governments need to play a more active role to make sure refugee jobs are more complementary to those of native workers, rather than competitive.
https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740726-it-eases-fiscal-burden-without-hurting-locals-prospects-european-countries-should-make
3 comments:
I totally agree and think reducing the length of time asylum seekers have to wait to legally work would be “sensible, economically efficient and compassionate”, and would help more people integrate into society. Giving the refugees a quicker route into the job market that is more compatible to those of natives would not only be helping the refugees but also the country's economy in general.
I definitely agree that a reduction in the amount of time an asylum seeker needs to wait to legally work is a good thing. However, it might have negative effects for domestic workers. The more labor available the harder it will be to find jobs and wages will also be driven downward.
I believe that this is an important issue. The existence of refugees would cause mess in the society because they don’t have money and work, and they have to survive. The refugees could be considered as the labor force, if the government could transfer those refugees into employees, the productivity would definitely increase which is good for the society as well as the economy.
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