Report: Immigrants no burden on Estonia's welfare system

Photo: SCANPIX

While the people who have immigrated so far have not remained a burden on Estonia's welfare system, meaning that there is no «benefits tourism» in Estonia, the country has not managed to attract workers with a high level of knowledge and skills either, it appears from a report by the National Audit Office.

Where internationally excessive use by migrants of the welfare system is seen as one of the dangers related to immigration, this does not hold true for Estonia. On the average, immigrants receive smaller amounts of support here than locals, the study titled «Options of the State's Migration Policy» shows.

In 2013, for instance, the subsistence benefit was paid to 2.7 percent of the population of Estonia and to 1.5 percent of immigrants. The unemployment insurance benefit and unemployment allowance were paid to a significantly smaller ratio of foreigners than of the local population. In 2010–2013, a little more than one-third of the foreigners registered as unemployed were paid unemployment benefits in Estonia. Of all the people registered as unemployed in Estonia almost half were paid benefits during the said period.

The bulk of the benefits and allowances paid to immigrants, 77 percent, were connected with family and children, not subsistence, the National Audit Office said.