Migrants contribute £25bn to UK economy, study finds// Arrivals from EEA countries since 2000 have worked more and received less in benefits than average Briton, academics argue

People queue for border checks at Heathrow airport. Academics at University College London say the government's target to cut net migration serves no useful purpose. Photograph: Steve Parsons/Press Association

Migrants coming to the UK since the year 2000 have been less likely to receive benefits or use social housing than people already living in the country, according to a study that argues the new arrivals have made a net contribution of £25bn to public finances.

People from European Economic Area countries have been the most likely to make a positive contribution, paying about 34% more in taxes than they received in benefits over the 10 years from 2001 to 2011, according to the findings from University College London's migration research unit. Other immigrants paid about 2% more than they received.

Recent immigrants were 45% less likely to receive state benefits or tax credits than people native to the UK and 3% less likely to live in social housing, says the report written by Professor Christian Dustmann and Dr Tommaso Frattini....

[...]

"The flow of people out of the country is vital to achieving the target and is something over which the government has much less influence."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are building an immigration system that works in the national interest, with net migration down by a third since its peak in 2010.

"We have tightened immigration routes where abuse was rife while still encouraging the brightest and best to come here to study and work, but more needs to be done.

"This is why the immigration bill will prevent migrants from using public services which they are not entitled to and reduce the factors which draw people to the UK."-- http://www.theguardian.com