Immigrants will save the West

Submitted by Real Sword of Islam (Sweden), Apr 6, 2006 at 19:32

Some posters here often calls for sealing their borders, kicking out the immigrants etc. But have you ever thought what would happen if the 'foreigners' stops coming to your countries? You should be grateful to the immigrants who are contributing immensely to the economy of the western countries.

According to the United Nation's report on population, Europeans will need to rely increasingly on immigrants to pay their pensions because of declining birth rates. In the next 50 years the populations of most developed countries are projected to become smaller and older as a result of low fertility and increased longevity, commented the UN's population division. "Population decline is inevitable in the absence of replacement migration" it said.

The only way that some of these countries could maintain their ratio of workers to pensioners without allowing more immigration would be to raise the retirement age. The decline is severee in many European countries. Italy is particularly a sad story, with a fertility rate of about 1.2 children per woman - among the lowest in the world - and a population which is falling, despite the arrival of about 70,000 immigrants a year. According to the projections, Italy is expected to lose 28% of its population by 2050, the steepest decline of the countries covered by the report. It would need 6,500 immigrants for every million inhabitants to maintain the worker-pensioner ratio. Otherwise the retirement age would need to rise to 77.

The UK would be able to keep its population steady up to 2050 by raising immigration from an average of 73,000 a year to 88,000. "However, the number of migrants needed to keep the population in working-age constant are about twice the level of the past decade," said the report. Without immigrants the retirement age would have to rise to 72 to maintain the ratio of workers to pensioners.

Overall, the population of the 15 countries of the EU, which now stands at more than 375m people, is expected to fall to 330m by 2050. The report said that governments should consider the age they set for retirement, the benefits they want to provide to the elderly, and their immigration policies.

Justme and Danish/Americans would like to survive without the Mexicans (they refered them as 'Mad Mexicans') ! One needs to understand why President Bush announced he was giving a virtual amnesty to millions of illegal workers in USA. One motive was political, to woo Hispanic voters in an election year. But there was another, more pragmatic reason. Most immigrants are young and many analysts claim their energy gives America the momentum it needs to keep itself industrially vibrant. This in turn helps to support the country's ever-swelling numbers of elderly folk.

Close your eyes and think of the UK or America without immigrant work forces. You'll have to drive taxi, you'll have to clean roads, you'll have to construct buildings and roads, you'll have to sell bus tickets, you'll have to make sandwiches. May be you'll have to engage your great grandparents in gardening. Before you look down upon your immigrant neighbours think about their contribution in your country.

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