Despite a surging far right and anti-immigrant rhetoric in a number of rich nations, immigrants flocking to them are faring better in areas like education, jobs and integration than they were a decade ago, according to a new report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
“Perception does not necessarily match with reality,” Thomas Liebig, senior administrator with the OECD’s International Immigration Policy Division, said in an interview. “The reality is things have improved. The perception is that things have not improved or gotten worse.”
Another reality is that the number of immigrants continues to rise, regardless of perceptions. The number of newcomers arriving in the OECD’s 38 member states — representing the world’s most advanced economies — has jumped 20% over the last 10 years. About one in four OECD residents under 35 were born elsewhere.
In a number of key areas, the newcomers have made significant strides in recent years, according to the study — which reportedly counts among the most comprehensive of its kind to date.
“Immigrants are a lot more qualified and educated than they were 10 or 20 years ago,” Liebig said. “There also has been a lot of investment in integration policies and in the critical schooling years for children” including pre-school.
In countries like the U.S., they are learning the language of their new home more quickly than before. Many, especially men, are also finding it easier to land jobs.
“We have better labor market conditions,” Liebig said, “and the migrants seem to benefit disproportionately from them.”
The findings of the new study, which were released Thursday and published jointly with the European Commission, are especially surprising given recent events that would appear to shape a different outcome.
Over the past decade, the European Union has been rocked by Islamist terrorist attacks and a refugee crisis. Anti-immigrant and right-wing politicians are gaining ground in Italy, France and the U.S. And Brexit — partly intended to ”regain control” of immigration — has become reality in Britain.
Fueling them, perhaps, are overly simplified or inaccurate perceptions of immigrants in social and mainstream media, Liebig said.
Facts paint a different picture. Many European immigrants, for example, come from other European nations. Most, too, come legally.
“By far the vast majority of migrant arrivals come by regular channels, with a visa,” Liebig added. “It’s a relatively small part that crosses the Mediterranean. But it’s much easier to show a picture of a boat than someone queuing up in an airport line with a passport.”
Despite anti-immigration rhetoric in some places, public perception has not soured on the newcomers in recent years.
In Europe, surveys point to roughly half of native-born residents with no strong positive or negative views of immigration, the study finds. The other half is roughly divided between those believing immigrants have made their countries a better place — and those who don’t.
Sentiments are stronger in the U.S., but even so, there is not a single, broad anti-immigrant current.
Even in Britain — where curbing immigration played a key role in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU — the study found the number of British believing immigration was good for their economy actually doubled since 2010.
“People don’t always think about the economy,” Liebig said of anti-immigrant perceptions in general. “They may just not want to have too many migrants.”
The report’s findings aren’t universally sunny.
More immigrants are still likely to be poor, live in substandard housing and have more health problems than natives of OECD countries. There are fewer immigrant women in the labor market and rising numbers of elderly immigrants often face hard times.
Refugees, too, struggle to find jobs and move forward. Europe’s nearly five million Ukrainian refugees — many of them women — count among the rare success stories. They are boosted by their generally high educational levels and social networks built by a large Ukrainian diaspora that arrived before the war.
Countries like Sweden, with strong integration programs for arriving immigrants, are also seeing positive outcomes.
“It’s worth thinking about integration as an investment that’s likely to pay off,” Liebig said. “Not only in economic terms, but in the future cohesion of our societies.”
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