Millions Being Paid by British Taxpayers for Emigration Benefits

Apparently taxpayers are currently paying millions of pounds in extra benefits to Eastern European emigrations because of new changes to the EU regulation. For the past seven years, emigrants from eight countries were unable to collect benefits in the UK until they have worked in the country for 12 months.

However, as of April 2011, emigrants from Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic will be allowed to claim Job Seekers Allowances and other benefits after just three months. This is, of course, subject to the fact that they can provided the fact that the have been actively seeking work, undergoing training or attending job interviews.

Many other European nations, unlike Britain, have closed their labor markets to these countries. However, Britain allowed them to work on the conditions that went by the Government's Worker Registration Scheme, which denied them benefits for a year.

So what does this mean overall? Well it means that Eastern European emigrants who enter into Britain will be subject to the very same benefits that are given to well established EU countries like France and Germany. Although there are not any official government figures, the latest academic surveys have suggested that there are now 1.2 million Eastern European nationals living in Britain.

A lot of the former Soviet countries pay a lot lower unemployment benefits than what the UK does. For example, in Latvia, the monthly unemployment allowance is £57.20 compared with the UK’s £200-£256. Thus, there is no mystery to why people are trying to enter into the UK and look for work. It simply pays more to be looking for work in the UK than in other countries.