02United Kingdom · Immigration and labour
Britain tightens settlement—and exposes its labour constraint
Facts
Britain plans to double the standard wait for permanent residence to ten years and says 500,000 fewer recent migrants would qualify by 2030, while exempting care workers and some higher earners.
InterpretationThe government is using settlement rights to reward contribution and deter irregular entry. The care-sector carve-out is the counterevidence to easy restrictionism: a state that has allowed employers to depend on imported labour cannot unwind that dependence overnight without service failures.