The promises of economic prosperity from mass migration suffered a further blow this week as government data reportedly found the number of unemployed migrants living in Britain hit a record high this year, and nearly 1.3 million migrants are claiming welfare cash.
According to data published this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), migrants represented over one in five (21.5 per cent) of all unemployed people in Britain during the first three months of the year. This equated to 345,600 unemployed foreigners, the highest such figure on record. While this declined slightly to 333,000 between April and June, it remained at near record highs and nearly 2.7 times higher than in 1997 when records began.
The migrant drag on the economy was laid further bare by figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, which has revealed that as of July, a staggering 1.298 million migrants were claiming welfare benefits through Universal Credit, a means-tested financial support scheme for those out of work or on a low income.
Broken down by category, 524,598 employed migrants were receiving Universal Credit payments, while 759,375 foreigners were receiving out-of-work benefits under the welfare scheme. The number of migrants claiming such benefits has risen by 370,539 over 2020, the equivalent of a 40 per cent rise, according to GB News.
Commenting on the data disclosures, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, Robert Bates, said: “We were promised that mass migration would bring unbridled prosperity to Britain. Instead, the taxpayer is being expected to financially support 1.3 million foreign national universal credit claimants, with one in five of those now unemployed being non-Brits.
“The costs of this open-border experiment are becoming clearer every day, and it is time we end, once and for all, the flow of low-wage, low-skilled foreign nationals into Britain.”
The drain on public finances caused by mass migration is much higher than just through Universal Credit payments, given migrant usage of other state services such as the National Health Service (NHS).
Calculations from the Office for Budget Responsibility found last year that low-skilled migrants take far more from public finances than they contribute through taxes.
The OBR estimated that, on average, a low-skilled migrant would cost the government £151,000 ($200,000) by the time they reach the age of 66. This would rise to £500,000 ($660,000) if they reach the age of 80, and more than a million pounds sterling ($1.3m) if they live to 100 years old.
This is a stark contrast to the average British citizen, who is a net contributor of £280,000 ($370,000) by their 66th birthday and who remains a net contributor into their 80s.
The growing reality of the failure of migration to deliver on the promises of economic prosperity — and indeed the necessity to prop up the welfare state — in conjunction with a breakdown in social cohesion and rising concern over migrant crime, has seen a noticeable shift in public sentiment towards the open borders agenda. Indeed, a survey from YouGov found earlier this month that a plurality of Britons support a complete halt of immigration and would back a deportation campaign to remove recent arrivals from the country.
However, despite occasional tough talk from the left-wing Labour government, there appears to be little appetite in Westminster to cut immigration on the scale desired by the British people.
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