Artikel

Enkele beschouwingen omtrent de economische kosten verbonden aan de tewerkstelling van vreemde arbeidskrachten in België

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Abstract

Some considerations on economic costs connected with the employment of foreign workers in Belgium - Up to now, economists have shown very little interest in the economic costs caused by the employment of foreigners. Indeed, setting up an encompassery cost-benefit analysis of this problem is difficult, because some essential elements are purely psychological, while others are difficult to estimate. In Belgium, the number of foreigners reached 700.000 in 1970; it has almost doubled since 1960. However, this figure includes managers of multinationals as well as miners and second or third generation foreigners. An inquiry into 76 Belgian firms with 77.000 employers, states that almost none of them did register costs concerning the employment of foreign workers. Only the economically weak sector of coal mining has made efforts to integrate them. It is clear that the immigration costs are paid by the community. Whether these ate real costs or not, depends on a number of circumstances; e.g. when a foreigner is returning home, this means a benefit on the medical side (no costs of age health care); on the other hand, this return can be considered as a cost because of the lost education investment. An important cost is the unemployment of skilled workers. The industrial structure seems to be inappropriate to employ them, while foreigners must come and do unskilled and dirty jobs. The costs and benefits of this system must be balanced. A choice should be made between the continuing import of foreign workers and the restructuring of the economy towards skill-intensive firms with limited need for immigrants.

How to Cite:

Debbaut, H. & Coene-Hanssens, C., (1975) “Enkele beschouwingen omtrent de economische kosten verbonden aan de tewerkstelling van vreemde arbeidskrachten in België”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 20(2), 133–151. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95997