Monday, February 08, 2021
How immigration enhances our economy
The Liberal Democrats have been arguing for some time that immigration actually adds value to our economy, so it is good to see this study reported in the Independent, which has concluded that British towns with the most immigrants and highest levels of diversity tend to do far better economically than areas with little.
The paper says that an analysis of local authorities in England and Wales shows a strong link "between rising prosperity and rising diversity" – with diverse areas doing better "almost regardless of which metric you use". It concludes that "growing diversity is an inevitable part of increasing prosperity – and, potentially, a contributor to it":
The study looked at indicators in 285 council areas outside of big cities, including economic growth, house prices, reductions in deprivation, employment, and wages between 2011 and 2019.
It then compared these factors to metrics like the proportion of the population born outside the UK, the proportion whose parents were born outside the UK, the extent to which the population is transient, and the local level of non-white British ethnic heritage.
The areas looked at excluded London boroughs and areas in other larger UK cities; by contrast the selection covered 49 of the 53 so-called "Red Wall" seats won by the Conservatives in the 2019 election.
The results were striking: the 50 places with the highest rises in GDP through the 2010s saw their non-UK born communities grow at more than twice the pace of the 50 authorities with the lowest GDP rises.
Similar results were found on other metrics: the 50 towns with the highest increase in property values saw the number of births to non-UK born mothers increase at three times the pace of the 50 council areas with the smallest property price increases.
Areas where deprivation eased had twice as rapid an increase in non-UK born populations than areas where deprivation intensified.
And in communities with an above-average level of population transience, the median salary rose by £3,379 during the period studied, faster than the £3,307 in those with below-average transience.
On jobs the study found the 50 local authorities with the greatest increase in employment during the 2010s saw an average 2.2 per cent increase in their non-British populations, compared to the 50 with the smallest rises that saw just 0.8 per cent.
The report recommends that the government should acknowledge the relationship between growth and diversity, and that the Home Office should update its immigration rules to "support the process by which communities get more diverse".
The charity also calls for targeted funding for areas to "ensure that economic growth is accompanied by investment in infrastructure" to accommodate population rises.
"Failure to do so can easily swell into community tensions," the report warns, citing housing, GP access, community facilities, and school funding as important areas of focus.
It would be good to see politicians in other parties publicly recognising this instead of playing the popularist race card all the time.
The paper says that an analysis of local authorities in England and Wales shows a strong link "between rising prosperity and rising diversity" – with diverse areas doing better "almost regardless of which metric you use". It concludes that "growing diversity is an inevitable part of increasing prosperity – and, potentially, a contributor to it":
The study looked at indicators in 285 council areas outside of big cities, including economic growth, house prices, reductions in deprivation, employment, and wages between 2011 and 2019.
It then compared these factors to metrics like the proportion of the population born outside the UK, the proportion whose parents were born outside the UK, the extent to which the population is transient, and the local level of non-white British ethnic heritage.
The areas looked at excluded London boroughs and areas in other larger UK cities; by contrast the selection covered 49 of the 53 so-called "Red Wall" seats won by the Conservatives in the 2019 election.
The results were striking: the 50 places with the highest rises in GDP through the 2010s saw their non-UK born communities grow at more than twice the pace of the 50 authorities with the lowest GDP rises.
Similar results were found on other metrics: the 50 towns with the highest increase in property values saw the number of births to non-UK born mothers increase at three times the pace of the 50 council areas with the smallest property price increases.
Areas where deprivation eased had twice as rapid an increase in non-UK born populations than areas where deprivation intensified.
And in communities with an above-average level of population transience, the median salary rose by £3,379 during the period studied, faster than the £3,307 in those with below-average transience.
On jobs the study found the 50 local authorities with the greatest increase in employment during the 2010s saw an average 2.2 per cent increase in their non-British populations, compared to the 50 with the smallest rises that saw just 0.8 per cent.
The report recommends that the government should acknowledge the relationship between growth and diversity, and that the Home Office should update its immigration rules to "support the process by which communities get more diverse".
The charity also calls for targeted funding for areas to "ensure that economic growth is accompanied by investment in infrastructure" to accommodate population rises.
"Failure to do so can easily swell into community tensions," the report warns, citing housing, GP access, community facilities, and school funding as important areas of focus.
It would be good to see politicians in other parties publicly recognising this instead of playing the popularist race card all the time.
