Average migrant on a skilled worker visa made a positive 'net fiscal impact' of £16,300 in 2022/23, far greater than UK workers, says report
Skilled UK visa holders make a substantially greater contribution to the public finances than the average UK-born adult, according to new figures from the Migration Advisory Committee.
The average migrant living in the UK on a skilled worker visa made a positive “net fiscal impact” of £16,300 in 2022/23, it said in its annual report, published on Tuesday. This compares to around £14,400 for a working British adult.
That is principally because most skilled worker visa holders were of working-age and pay tax. Almost two thirds, or 61 per cent of skilled workers, were aged between 30 and 49, while 99 per cent were between 20 and 69.
“The second reason why skilled worker migrants will exhibit substantial positive net fiscal benefit is that the route is designed to attract migrants who are in full-time employment with generally high earnings,” said the report.
“So even compared to a UK adult of the same age, we would expect significantly higher tax contributions from skilled workers because they will be in employment (rather than some being unemployed or inactive) and earning more.”
The previous Conservative government changed the salary threshold for skilled workers, increasing it in increments from £26,200 a year to £38,700 from April, and to £30,960 for people under the age of 26, in a bid to cut net migration.
The difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country hit a record 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023, some 166,000 higher than previously thought, according to revised estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures have since dropped by 20 per cent and stood at 728,000 in the latest period for the year to June 2024, during the Conservative administration.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously announced a major overhaul of the immigration system when he described revised figures estimating that net migration was nearly one million last year as “unprecedented” and “off the scale.
However, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) warned the UK’s plans to cut net migration are not guaranteed to result in large drops in numbers, cautioning ministers against using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to trying to cut immigration rates.
Despite a decline in visas in the wake of rule changes, migration for care worker jobs is “still substantial”, the MAC report published said.
“If the government want a functioning health and care sector, with lower reliance on immigration, more still needs to be done to fill roles domestically through increased funding to improve pay and conditions. This important trade-off must be considered when designing migration policy and a point we have repeatedly made.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch – who last month admitted her party had failed on migration – told a summit in London on Monday that the UK should start thinking about “how to make sure that we keep good people” and that when it comes to net migration she worries “about who's leaving”.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
