It is important to move away from ambiguous concepts such as ‘benefit tourism’ and focus on actual numbers

Politicians in the UK of all stripes have voiced conern about ‘benefit tourism’. But how many people actually come to take advantage of the UK welfare system? One possible way of informing the debate is to move away from vague concepts and estimate the number of people who may fit the media narrative. Looking at recent EU migrants of working age who are not students, not in employment and receive some kind of state benefit, Yvonni Markaki and Carlos Vargas-Silva get an estimate of 39,000 people. This is less than 1% of all foreign nationals in the UK and 1% of all EU nationals in the UK.