Ukraine refugees: employment rights ease the fiscal strain

{"text":[[{"start":12.46,"text":"It is Europe’s greatest refugee crisis since the second world war. "},{"start":16.527,"text":"The numbers who have left Ukraine have now outstripped those who fled Syria. "},{"start":20.494,"text":"But it is not just the scale of the exodus prompted by the Russian invasion that makes it stand out. "}],[{"start":26.36,"text":"European countries have given Ukrainian refugees an immediate right to work. "},{"start":30.977,"text":"This was a good call. "},{"start":32.582,"text":"Immigrants can make a contribution to host economies. "},{"start":35.737,"text":"Assimilation will be easier for those who stay. "}],[{"start":39.59,"text":"Accommodating the sudden influx has imposed large immediate costs. "},{"start":43.732000000000006,"text":"In March, Poland estimated it would have to spend at least €11bn on housing, social services and other expenses. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":51.720000000000006,"text":"Giovanni Peri, an economist at University of California, Davis, estimates each refugee may cost $8,000-$10,000 in the first year in housing and other support. "},{"start":62.27400000000001,"text":"But given tight European labour markets, he expects Ukrainian refugees who stay would generate enough income in the following years to outweigh this. "}],[{"start":70.81,"text":"Difficulties abound. "},{"start":72.739,"text":"Ukrainian refugees responsible for infants cannot easily work. "},{"start":76.682,"text":"Qualifications may not be recognised locally. "}],[{"start":80.11,"text":"Only one in six refugees who arrived in Poland want to stay permanently, according to a central bank report. "},{"start":86.277,"text":"The main reason was the challenge of providing for themselves. "},{"start":89.569,"text":"Ukrainians in Russia, some of whom appear to have been forcibly relocated, may not have the option of leaving. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":96.03,"text":"Yet Ukrainian refugees are expected to increase the EU’s workforce by 0.5 per cent, twice as much as the Syrian refugees who arrived in 2014‑17, according to the OECD. "},{"start":107.56,"text":"Of the earlier group, only 17 per cent of working-age refugees were in employment after two years in the country and less than 50 per cent after five years, according to the European Central Bank. "}],[{"start":118.79,"text":"Ukraine’s geographical and cultural proximity should help refugees assimilate, as should their relatively high levels of education. "},{"start":125.857,"text":"The average refugee to Europe around the middle of the decade was a young man with modest qualifications, according to the OECD. "},{"start":132.96200000000002,"text":"In the case of the Ukrainian refugees, it is more likely to be a tertiary educated woman. "}],[{"start":138.6,"text":"The economic outlook is darkening. "},{"start":141.079,"text":"But the freedom to work will alleviate some hardship and reduce Ukrainian dependence on host nations. "},{"start":146.37199999999999,"text":"In the UK, the economic example of earlier generations of eastern European refugees has been a shining one. "}],[{"start":152.57999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://creatives.ftacademy.cn/album/82897-1662901766.mp3"}