The Spring Budget 2021 Pre-Budget Briefings on Covid-19 and economic challenges for migrant women highlights the experiences and difficulties that migrant women are facing, and proposes some public policies recommandations.
Key points:
• Migrant women have been vital key workers during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Migrants are over-represented in care roles, for example 37% are registered nurses and16% of the social care workforce are migrants.
• Most migrants are barred from accessing public funds under the ‘no recourse to publicfunds’ (NRPF) condition stamped on their passports.
• NRPF creates problems for women who are on family visas and are economicallydependent on their partners, who may face destitution if the relationship breaks down.They also risk becoming undocumented as their visa depends on the relationship.
• Many migrant women are on zero-hours contracts with no guaranteed wage or access tosick pay. In these circumstances, many will not be eligible for coronavirus income supportand NRPF means they can’t access Universal Credit and other income-support benefits.
• NRPF status is discriminatory against women, disabled people, and pregnant women andrisks leaving individuals and families destitute. It has been deemed in breach of Article 3 ofthe European Convention on Human Rights.
• For migrants in the UK not employed by the NHS, the NHS surcharge currently stands at£400 per person per year, costing the average family of four £16,000 over 10 years.
• 71% of EU migrants who are ‘key workers’ would not be eligible for a UK work visa underthe new Points-Based Immigration system.
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This platform is part of the Axis 1 "Strengthening the capacities of equality actors" of the Priority Solidarity Fund "Women for the future in the Mediterranean" funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and led by the European Institute of the Mediterranean, in the framework of the project “Developing Women's Empowerment” labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean.
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