“There is increasing evidence that ageing societies
are becoming more averse to open immigration policies, and older people have systematically more negative attitudes toward immigrants than younger people. This is paradoxical, as they are the group that stands to benefit the most from immigration: the pension system would be on a more sustainable trajectory, working immigrants do not threaten their jobs, and immigrants work in services often targeted to them, such as caregiving. “Yet the good news is that it appears that such negative
attitudes are due more to generational differences than to a simple effect of ageing. A relative lack of exposure to immigrants among the currently old generations in Europe and the United States may be the reason for such attitudes. In Europe, for instance, surveys suggest that millennials and Generation Z have more positive opinions of immigration than do older generations. “As the current younger generations are exposed to
rate and an ageing population have vastly reduced a key section of our workforce. That said, relying solely on immigration is not the answer, and immediate stoppage or zero immigration wouldn’t be the right solution. “For some years now, there have been many discussions on the negative aspects of immigration and the portrayal of the negative side of immigration. “In my view, this is not helpful or furthers the
debate on how to address the issues of talent shortages or demographic challenges. Rather, governments internationally ought to have a sensible review of their immigration programmes, the shortfalls of the programmes in addressing the immediate, mid- and long-term needs, and how it does or does not address acute or regional talent and mobility needs.”
LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS & LIBERAL ATTITUDES Giovanni Peri, an Italian-born American economist who is professor of economics and director of the Global Migration Center at the University of California, has long argued that the public and political arguments over immigration usually pay insufficient attention to demographics, which he has described as the “Achilles’ heel of the global North”. He says low fertility rates and ageing populations in
so many countries will produce “population declines and substantial increases in average ages, both of which could disrupt labour markets, threaten the fiscal sustainability of pension systems, and slow down economic growth, unless total net immigration offsets such declines”. He adds: “The bottom line is that only net
immigration can ensure population stability or growth in the aging advanced economies of the North – and this will happen only if we promote forward-looking immigration policies that allow larger numbers of immigrants and consider their long-run impact, rather than focusing only on the short-term calculations of their mostly political costs.” But, Prof Peri adds, while an increase in immigration
flows, especially of young people, seems desirable, immigration policies, especially in Europe and the US, have been tightening.
more immigration, if they maintain such attitudes as they become older and see their voting power increase, they may support more open immigration policies. Then the positive demographic returns from immigration may be more fully realised.” A report published in late January by the Migration
Observatory at the University of Oxford, concluded that “research shows that people do not become more negative towards immigration as they age, as attitudes are quite stable over adulthood”. It found that 50 per cent of people with university
degrees were more likely to regard immigration as a good or very good thing, compared to only 22 per cent among people with lower levels of education. “Multiple factors explain why highly educated
people tend to express more liberal attitudes towards immigration in surveys, including holding more cosmopolitan or nationalistic views, being more susceptible to social desirability bias (that is, hiding their views when these are not socially acceptable), or being less affected by labour market competition with migrants,” said the report. Unless these liberal attitudes towards migration
expand among voters in rich nations over the coming years, the fear is that falling birth rates might well have the last word in global labour markets.
“ IMMIGRATION IS ONE OF THE MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD METHODS OF ADDRESSING THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES MANY WESTERN COUNTRIES FACE TODAY. THE DECLINING BIRTH RATE AND AN AGEING POPULATION HAVE VASTLY REDUCED A KEY SECTION OF OUR WORKFORCE.”
ANTONIO LAM, UK DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION, IMMIGRATION PLATFORM ENVOY GLOBAL
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GLOBAL MOBILITY DEMOGRAPHICS
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