A French parliamentary report has suggested that mass migration into France does not actually help boost the economy, as frequently claimed, but is only net neutral.
The report, released by Pierre-Henri Dumont of the Republicans and Stéphanie Do of President Emmanuel Macron’s Le Republique En Marche! (LREM) party, has concluded that due to the low skill level of so many migrants, mass migration has not benefited the French economy, Le Figaro reports.
“43 per cent of our immigration is family, against 13 per cent for working immigration. Work immigration should be encouraged in relation to family immigration,” Pierre-Henri Dumont explained.
“The immigrant population in France is traditionally low-skilled,” the report said, indicating that as many as 43 per cent of immigrants in France do not hold any sort of diploma or college certificate, compared to 20 per cent for native French at the same low education level.
“The cost of immigration is neutral in France because the immigrant population is low-skilled,” Dumont said on social media.
The report also compares other studies that have claimed mass migration is good for economic growth but stated, “immigration to France being characterized by both low qualifications and a low employment rate, its impact on long-term growth is less positive than in certain countries which have targeted their policies on most qualified profiles.”
“The impact of immigration on public finances is a little more negative in France than on average in the OECD, in particular, due to the low employment rate of immigrants and the redistributive scope of the French socio-fiscal system for the benefit of low-income households, among which there are many immigrants,” the report adds.
The authors suggest that France should work to focus immigration policies around skilled workers and make France more attractive to small business owners and entrepreneurs, and said more work needs to be done to integrate immigrant women, many of whom do not work at all.
Last year, France saw a record number of new asylum claims, with 140,000 migrants attempting to claim asylum.
Senator François-Noël Buffet said there has been a quadrupling of such claims since 2010.
According to a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), mass migration costs the French state around 10 billion euros per year.
National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has said the number could be as high as 70 billion when other costs are factored in.
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