Britons 'less likely to have a job than East European migrants': Findings contrast with other countries with high immigration Eastern Europeans 7 per cent more likely to be in work than British people Result differs with other countries with immigration from Eastern Europe Study found migrants' jobs were often among the most low paid Eastern European migrants are more likely to have jobs than native Britons, a research study revealed yesterday. The finding is in contrast with other countries with high levels of immigration from Eastern Europe, where the reverse is true. Researchers found that in the UK, workers from the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later were 7 per cent more likely to be in work than British-born people. A research study has revealed Eastern European migrants are more likely to have jobs than native Britons But in Germany, the Netherlands and Finland locally-born workers have a higher employment rate than migrant workers from the new EU countries, the study said. The report, by two Finnish academics, was presented yesterday to a conference on migration at University College London organised by NORFACE, a European organisation of state-funded research councils. It said that while Eastern European workers in Britain are more likely to have jobs than locals, their jobs are often among the most low paid. This appears to support the long-held argument that many migrants are more willing to take low-paid jobs than those of British birth. As early as 2007, official figures showed that four out of five newly-created jobs were going to migrants. The findings that migrants are filling vacant jobs while many British people draw the dole comes as a heated debate rages over welfare spending. The debate has been inflamed by the case of benefit-dependent Mick Philpott who was jailed for life for killing six of his children in a house fire. David Cameron and George Osborne expressed concerns in the wake of the case that the welfare system subsidises worklessness and feckless behaviour. The findings come as a heated debate rages over welfare spending. David Cameron and George Osborne (pictured) have expressed concerns, in the wake of the Mick Philpott case, that the welfare system subsidises worklessness and feckless behaviour This month has seen the introduction of a string of benefit reforms intended to make a life on benefits less attractive and to make it more worthwhile for claimants to look for low-paid work. The Finnish report, by Mari Kangasniemi and Merja Kauhanen, said that one of the key factors affecting the job chances of Eastern European migrants is labour market conditions in the countries to which they move. They said: "We find that Eastern European immigrants had a lower probability of employment on average in comparison to natives in all other countries except for the UK during the period 2004 to 2009." According to the findings, Eastern European migrants were 16.1 per cent less likely to be employed than locals in the Netherlands, where workers from Poland and the seven other countries that joined the EU in 2004 were allowed to work freely in 2008. In Finland, where Eastern Europeans could work from 2007, they were 5.7 per cent less likely to have a job than locals. Germany kept strict restrictions on Eastern European workers until 2011, but in the period covered by the report Eastern European workers who did move to Germany were around 11 per cent less likely than Germans to have a job. "In the UK, the employment gap in favour of new member state immigrants is around 7 percentage points," the report found.