Today is the United Nations' International Migrants Day, a day to shine a spotlight on the invaluable contributions of millions of migrants around the world. In a debate so often defined by negativity and misrepresented by those on the right of British and European politics, we want to highlight six ways immigration benefits the UK.

Supporting health and social care

Without immigrants our public services would not be able to function. More than 17% of all NHS staff are from overseas, rising to , the lifeblood of the NHS. Migrants are and without them we would be faced with mass labour shortages. 

Even with the addition of these individuals, the Health and Social Care Committee in Parliament has warned of a in the sector, with 9.9% of all social care roles currently vacant, equivalent to . Concerningly, the latest figures show that there has been a in the number of Health and Social Care visas granted in the UK, after the last Conservative government banned direct care workers from bringing dependents on their visa.

A net contributor to public finance

One of the most egregious myths surrounding immigration is the idea that immigrants act as a drain on the public finances - when in fact the opposite is true, with migrants contributing more to the public finances than the average native-born Brit.

While British natives likely take more out of public finance by being born and educated here, most migrants move to this country once they are of working age. The Office of Budget Responsibility has projected that the average migrant, who moves to this country at the age of 25 and lives until 80, will contribute over the course of their lives - more than the average Brit. Compared to the average UK adult, skilled worker migrant tax receipts were approximately , providing a much-needed boost to the Treasury. And if immigrants are unemployed, they are - 22% compared to 31%.

Filling labour shortages

It is not just the health and care sectors that rely on immigrants. Across the UK, businesses large and small rely on foreign-born talent. From hospitality and farming to technology and law, migrants are a crucial composite of the labour force in this country. 

Post-Brexit, industries that rely on seasonal workers have struggled to fill labour shortages, with new barriers to entry and a lack of British workers willing to fill the gaps. We've seen fruit rotting on vines, in supermarkets, HGV driver shortages and a in the run-up to Christmas. 

The story is different in 'higher-skilled' sectors such as IT and healthcare, which account for many of the new arrivals into the UK. Migrants filling these roles are likely to have than the average Brit, not only positively contributing to public finances, but overall increasing the wages of native British workers on the median salary and above - busting the myth that immigration results in wage suppression. Overall, migrants take up , a 5% higher share than their proportion of the UK population. With the number of British natives that are economically inactive increasing post-Covid, immigrants will be imperative for economic growth. 

Helping to address our ageing population

Birth rates in the UK are now, according to the ONS, at their lowest levels since records began in 1938, at a . With a rapidly ageing population, migrants will be essential to replace UK-born workers as they retire, paying into the public finances that we need to fund pensions and healthcare - and helping avoid the trap of population decline, which is heavily linked to economic stagnation .

With an ageing population comes a demand for care workers: there are currently more than 150,000 unfilled roles in the sector, and rising demand means are expected to be needed in the next decade. Prior to Brexit, the sector relied on what the Nuffield Trust called the 'relief valve' of EU migration, in a system that didn't (and still doesn't) have an effective way to train and keep British care workers. ONS data shows one in four care workers and home carers was born outside of the UK - but the new restrictions on bringing dependents on Health and Social Care visas is likely to compound existing shortages in the sector. 

Driving economic growth and productivity

Migration has long been known to , and this is no different for the UK. Not only does migration fill job shortages and drive dynamism, but the published a report which found that the higher the level of migration, the less borrowing and debt the UK would be in by the end of the forecast period of 2028-29. The analysis also estimated that a high migration scenario would lead to more than a , whilst a low migration scenario would decrease GDP by more than 1%. 

A vibrant culture

Finally, the diversity of this country is our great strength and we are fortunate to live in a thriving multicultural society. We have a British-Nigerian Leader of the Opposition, who follows in the footsteps of a Prime Minister descended from East African-born Hindu parents of Indian Punjabi descent. We cheer on English football players with roots across Africa and the Caribbean (15 of England’s 26-team squad could have played for another country). We dance to music from Asia to South America (the biggest UK artists like Raye and Dua Lipa are often dual nationality). We are a nation made richer by immigration, both figuratively and literally. 

When we wake up from our Swedish beds and step into our German cars driven by Arabic logarithms and American technology, when we drink our Italian coffee and eat our Chinese takeaway, when we listen to Jamaican music through Japanese sound systems, when we connect with each other on the basis of our shared humanity rather than an abstract nationality, we are all the richer for it.

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