Migration and the European Welfare State in a Changing World Order

This chapter asks how migration might affect the economies of European welfare states. The welfare state is put in the perspective of the refugee crisis that Europe has experienced since 2015. The chapter explores the economic costs and benefits that migration can generate against the background of comprehensive welfare ambitions and economic redistribution in many European countries. Large-scale asylum-based immigration often entails economic costs for the recipient country, at least initially, but the authors also show that immigrants often contribute to economic development through innovation and new networks. Here, the authors emphasize that an effective integration policy is critical to national economic performance, as well as the future scope and design of welfare policies. One of the main issues brought up in the chapter is whether the most expansive welfare states in Europe will be able to maintain their universal nature or whether welfare entitlements must somehow be differentiated. Consequently, there is substantial policy scope to shape the ultimate outcome of higher immigration.