ABSTRACT
Receiving large numbers of international immigrants, most notably in the United States, government expenditures on immigrants, the taxes paid by immigrants, and the net balance between the two constitute a subject of continuing academic and public interest. Ather Akbari conducted two similar studies for Canada, one using 1981 census data, the other using 1991 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances for 1991. In Europe, most countries provide a variety of benefits to families and individuals not provided in North America. The appropriate mode of analysis of the effect of immigrants on the public purse is a present-value assessment based on the lifetime experience of the relevant cohorts of immigrants. Social Security and Medicare payments, by far the largest government transfer programs, accrue mainly to natives. Based on good-quality statistics relating to the 1970s, immigrants to the United States contributed more to the public coffers than they received in public services.
