Can the Welfare State Survive the Refugee Crisis?

There’s substantial evidence that the arrival of refugees from outside Europe will be less beneficial than the influx of skilled immigrants from within Europe. The 2014 U.K. study, for example, showed non-European immigrants lagging behind European immigrants in terms of net contributions. “We know that EU immigrants are on average better educated than non-EU citizens and that high-skilled immigrants have a strong positive fiscal impact, which is not the case for low-skilled immigrants,” said Krieger. On top of that, refugees need food and shelter upon arrival, and often lack immigration papers, among other things. Even so, during some years examined in the U.K. study, non-European immigrants still beat out natives in terms of net contributions.