The secret to fighting poverty is New Zealand

http://aidwatchers.com/2010/12/the-secret-to-fighting-poverty-is-new-zealand/

by cwan • 16 years ago

48 12 16 years ago

iwr• 16 years ago

In short: make life easy for skilled migrants and your economy will do good.

I'll say it's simpler than that: make sure immigrants get to sustain themselves through work rather than welfare. This creates a direct incentive for them to learn the language and actually integrate into the new society.

The great problem Europe has with migrants is not the inherent "poor imported stock", but the lean welfare rules and strict employment rules. This ensures a toxic proportion of new arrivals simply don't want to or can't integrate. It also means you get second-generation immigrants with no better prospects than their parents.

bmcleod• 16 years ago

This particular piece isn't so much dealing with skilled migrants as it is with migrants who are willing and able to work and can do something as they're seasonal workers who normally come to work in orchards etc.

New Zealand has a significant advantage in that case where the people coming in on this program are islanders with a strong cultural imperative to work hard and send money home to their families.

Your points are good ones, they just don't really mirror what's actually happening in this case.

barrydahlberg• 16 years ago

If anything I would expect a highly skilled worker (doctor, programmer etc) to be taking an income loss coming here.

nl4• 16 years ago

Your point is almost the total opposite of what this article is about. It may or may not be true, but this article doesn't support it.

This article is about temporary, unskilled immigration for doing things like fruit picking. It's not arguing about any impact on the New Zealand economy - instead it shows benefits in the economy the immigrants come from.

poet• 16 years ago

A direct link to the blog post: http://blogs.worldbank.org/allaboutfinance/the-most-effectiv.... It's a lot more balanced than the repost linked in the submission. For example: "Such gains do not come automatically. The latest Nobel prize in economics was for work on the process of job search and matching in labor markets. While these are difficult enough for workers in the same economy, matching the supply of willing workers to the demands of employers becomes even more difficult when the process takes place across borders."

maxklein• 16 years ago

This post is difficult to understand. From my understand, correct me if I am wrong, New Zealand is providing aid by allowing Tongan workers come work for a season, then return home. This leads to a marked improvement in the lives of those who are allowed to migrate to work. Is that right?

nl4• 16 years ago

Yes

It also leads to an improvement in the conditions of the home country.

brc• 16 years ago

A very misleading headline if you ask me. Of course taking someone out of a third world economy and putting them in a country with a stable government and employment possibilities is going to improve their lot.

It's not very scalable, though. You can't import a whole nation into another. And it only measures monetary benefits. Is there an increase in native New Zealanders unemployment? Is there an increase in rents? Is there an increase in family breakdown for the ones who are seasonally migrating?

Immigration issues are rarely one dimensional.

nl4• 16 years ago

Q: Is there an increase in native New Zealanders unemployment? A: these gains came with minimal displacement of native workers

The original article deals with some more of your objections.

Immigration issues are rarely one dimensional. True - in this case it does seem pretty beneficial.

nl4• 16 years ago

People in Australia may be interested to know that many Pacific nations have repeatedly asked Australia to setup a similar program, and these request have been strongly supported by groups like the National Farmers Federation (who currently have to rely primarily on British pack-packers to pick a lot of produce)

The response to these requests has been negative so far.

ra• 16 years ago

The response to these requests has been negative so far.

i.e. "stop the boats"

The secret to fighting poverty is New Zealand

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