7 mars 2007
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Le quotidien finlandais Helsingin Sanomat vient de publier les résultats de recherches menées en Suède et en Finlande sur les économies faites par les pays qui accueillent des immigrés. Les gains en terme de couts d'éducation sont estimés entre 200 000 et 350 000 euros pour un immigré "choisi" à l'âge de 20 ans.
Immigrants can bring considerable savings in education costs
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Contrary to perceptions that immigrants are a drain on national resources, foreign residents who have been educated abroad can actually save their host country massive amounts of public funds.
Helsingin Sanomat has calculated that a 20-year-old Finn who has graduated from high school or vocational school has cost society and his or her parents about EUR 350,000. The figure includes educational, and health care costs among others.
An immigrant with an academic degree, the bonus is considerably higher.
"For instance, training a doctor is very expensive, and it is clear that a doctor who has been trained in Estonia or Russia will save Finland a large sum of money", says Mauri Nieminen a demographer at Statistics Finland.
According to a recent study in Sweden, by the time a Swede reaches the age of 20, he or she will have cost society significantly more than an immigrant of the same age with an equivalent education in his or her home country.
Pekka Parkkinen, a researcher at the Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT) notes that the Swedish study does not take into account the money that the parents spend on their children's free time and hobbies.
Parkkinen calculates that maintaining a child in Finland costs an average EUR 10,000 a year. This means that by the time a child reaches the age of 20, he or she will have incurred costs of nearly EUR 200,000.
Social and health services, as well as education, cost society at least EUR 150,000. When an immigrant arrives in Finland, all of those expenses will have been paid in the country of origin.
Society also incurs some costs from taking in immigrants: their orientation into Finnish society is an expense, and many of them do not get jobs right away.
"On the other hand, there are people in the native population as well, who do not pay for their own sustenance", Pekka Parkkinen points out.
There are no accurate statistics on the educational backgrounds of new immigrants. However, officials know that there are many well-trained immigrants who cannot practice their profession in Finland for one reason or another.
For instance, foreign doctors need to qualify in Finland as well before they can practice their profession.
Gahramani studied medicine first in her own country for three years, and for three more years in Moscow. She has lived in Finland for nearly ten years, during which time she has had two children.
After six months of mandatory training, she will have to pass three examinations at the University of Tampere before she can practice medicine in Finland.
"The most difficult part has been learning the language, and cultural differences. Doctor-patient ethics are different than in Russia."
Helsingin Sanomat has calculated that a 20-year-old Finn who has graduated from high school or vocational school has cost society and his or her parents about EUR 350,000. The figure includes educational, and health care costs among others.
An immigrant with an academic degree, the bonus is considerably higher.
"For instance, training a doctor is very expensive, and it is clear that a doctor who has been trained in Estonia or Russia will save Finland a large sum of money", says Mauri Nieminen a demographer at Statistics Finland.
According to a recent study in Sweden, by the time a Swede reaches the age of 20, he or she will have cost society significantly more than an immigrant of the same age with an equivalent education in his or her home country.
Pekka Parkkinen, a researcher at the Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT) notes that the Swedish study does not take into account the money that the parents spend on their children's free time and hobbies.
Parkkinen calculates that maintaining a child in Finland costs an average EUR 10,000 a year. This means that by the time a child reaches the age of 20, he or she will have incurred costs of nearly EUR 200,000.
Social and health services, as well as education, cost society at least EUR 150,000. When an immigrant arrives in Finland, all of those expenses will have been paid in the country of origin.
Society also incurs some costs from taking in immigrants: their orientation into Finnish society is an expense, and many of them do not get jobs right away.
"On the other hand, there are people in the native population as well, who do not pay for their own sustenance", Pekka Parkkinen points out.
There are no accurate statistics on the educational backgrounds of new immigrants. However, officials know that there are many well-trained immigrants who cannot practice their profession in Finland for one reason or another.
For instance, foreign doctors need to qualify in Finland as well before they can practice their profession.
Gahramani studied medicine first in her own country for three years, and for three more years in Moscow. She has lived in Finland for nearly ten years, during which time she has had two children.
After six months of mandatory training, she will have to pass three examinations at the University of Tampere before she can practice medicine in Finland.
"The most difficult part has been learning the language, and cultural differences. Doctor-patient ethics are different than in Russia."
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