In fact, according to one of the first in-depth investigations into the impact incomers have on host communities, refugees could repay spending on them twice over within the next five years.
 
It is expected that refugees will create more jobs, increase demand for services and products, and fill gaps in European workforces – while their wages will help fund dwindling pensions pots and public finances, says Philippe Legrain.
 
Citing past studies by labor economists, Legrain thinks it is unlikely that refugees will cause a decrease in wages or raise unemployment for native workers.
 
“Investing one euro in welcoming refugees can yield nearly two euros in economic benefits within five years” concludes Refugees Work: A Humanitarian Investment That Yields Economic Dividends, a report released on Wednesday by the Tent Foundation, a non-government organization that aims to help displaced people, and Open Political Economy Network, a new think tank.
 
While the absorption of so many refugees will increase public debt by almost 69 billion euros between 2015 and 2020, during the same period refugees will help GDP grow by 126.6 billion euros, that is a ratio of almost two to one.
 
“The main misconception is that refugees are a burden – and that’s a misconception shared even by people who are in favor of letting them in, who think they’re costly but it’s still the right thing to do” said Legrain, who is also a fellow at the London School of Economics, in an interview.
 
“But that’s incorrect. While of course the primary motivation to let in refugees is that they’re fleeing death, once they arrive they can contribute to the economy” he added.
 
In the longer term, refugees will increasingly contribute to tax revenues – and also create jobs. “To put it simply, there is not a fixed number of jobs to go around” reads the report. “Refugees who take jobs also create them. When they spend their wages, they boost demand for the people who produce the goods and services they consume. And they also create jobs for people in complementary lines of work. For instance, refugees who become construction workers create jobs for locals who are supervisors or sell building supplies.”
 
Also refugees can contribute in solving yet another European puzzle: the impending demographic challenge. “By 2030 the working-age population is projected to shrink by a sixth (8.7 million people), while the old-age population will grow by more than a quarter (4.7 million people)” writes Legrain. The answer to the increasing population of pensioners could be found in the young refugees influx.
 
But Legrain warns that refugees’ positive economic impact will be stymied if Europe does not take immediate steps to accelerate refugees’ entry into the workforce.