Romanian families who would emigrate to Britain next year could live up to eight times better working for the minimum wage in this country than at home, while Bulgarian families could raise their living standards nine times, MigrationWatch reports.
The report drafted by MigrationWatch reflection center and whose results were published by the Daily Mail newspaper in the electronic edition, came amid British concerns about opening the labour market for Bulgarians and Romanians starting January 2014.
The report argued that the living standards of Polish families on minimum wage were four times higher in the UK than at home, and that was only half of the benefit that migration could provide for Romanians and Bulgarians.
"Since the economic incentives for Romanians and Bulgarians are twice higher than those the Polish workers had it would be absurd to suggest that there will not be a significant influx," the report said.
It took into account the minimum wage and the social benefits levels in the UK and Eastern European countries and the purchasing power, providing an accurate measure of living standards, the British daily argued.
It found that a worker with a wife and two children depending on him would earn the equivalent of 70 pounds ( 355 lei ) per week according to the minimum wage in Romania. In Britain, where the minimum wage was supported by social benefits, the family income would be 543 pounds (2760 lei) a week. The family might also submit documents to receive social housing.
Similarly, a family in Bulgaria would earn 543 pounds per week in the UK, compared to only 62 pounds at home.
Even a family that earned the average salary in Bulgaria and Romania could live three or four times better working in the UK on minimum wage. It could also provide e considerable savings opportunities, an important component of immigration from Eastern Europe.