Freedom of movement and welfare: A way out for the prime minister?

How should EU migrants be able to access UK benefits? Our fair and viable ideas could gain support from both EU leaders and the UK public

Article

The government has said that reforming welfare for EU migrants is an ‘absolute requirement’ in its EU renegotiations. The prime minister has said he wants to restrict child benefit and tax credits for EU migrants until they have lived and contributed in the UK for at least four years. This briefing explains why the government is highly unlikely to secure agreement from other EU leaders on that proposal, and outlines an alternative proposal for reform that is fairer and more plausible.

Our proposal is that the prime minister should use the renegotiations to change EU legislation in order to:

  • Ensure that EU migrant jobseekers only gain access to non-contributory unemployment benefits after having worked in the UK.
  • Ensure that EU migrant jobseekers must work for three years in the UK to receive the same access to non-contributory benefits as UK nationals if they become unemployed.
  • Extend the exportability of unemployment benefits so that EU migrants can claim unemployment benefit from the country where they became unemployed for a minimum of six months.

In practice, this would create a ‘sliding scale’ of access to benefits such as income-based jobseeker’s allowance:

  • EU migrants seeking a job in the UK for the first time would have no access to income-based jobseeker’s allowance, but would be able to export unemployment benefits from their former country of work for a minimum of six months. Currently after three months of residence they have at least three months’ access to income-based jobseeker’s allowance, provided they pass the habitual residence test.
  • EU migrants who become involuntarily unemployed after working in the UK for less than three years would have three months’ access to income-based jobseeker’s allowance. Currently they typically have six months’ access, with the possibility of a short extension.
  • EU migrants who become involuntarily unemployed after working in the UK for three or more years would have the same access to income-based jobseeker’s allowance as UK nationals, with no time restrictions. Currently they typically have six months’ access, with the possibility of a short extension.

Related items

  1. Southport high street on a sunny day. A colourful selection of people out shopping and some planters full of flowers

    Places to come together: Rebuilding local solidarities against the far right

    A discussion paper on the fight for local investment and why government must create, facilitate and maintain spaces where solidarity might thrive.
  2. A young woman with a long ponytail sits looking out of a bus window

    State of the North 2025 - The kids aren't alright: How to deliver for young people in the North

    This year’s State of the North report highlights how regional inequality exacerbates the growing challenges facing many young northerners. 
  3. An illustration of an ideal public transport system: a smiling family cross a road near a green bus with houses and trees in the background

    The transport challenge for low-income households

    Many people living on low incomes in the UK are limited in their ability to access the building blocks of a good life because of poor transport provision.