Meghan Benton
Experts & Staff
Meghan Benton
Senior Policy Analyst; Assistant Director for Research, International Program
Meghan Benton is a Senior Policy Analyst and Assistant Director for Research for the International Program at MPI. She is also a Nonresident Fellow with MPI Europe. Her areas of expertise include immigrant integration (especially labor market integration and integration at the local level), free movement and Brexit, and the role of technological and social innovation in responses to the refugee and migration crisis in Europe.
Dr. Benton previously was a Senior Researcher at Nesta, the United Kingdom’s innovation body, where she led projects on digital government and the future of local public services. Prior to joining Nesta, she was a policy analyst at MPI from 2012-15, where she co-led an MPI-International Labor Organization six-country project on pathways to skilled work for newly arrived immigrants in Europe. She also worked on Project UPSTREAM, a four-country project on mainstreaming immigrant integration in the European Union. Previously, she worked for the Constitution Unit at University College London and the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Dr. Benton received her PhD in political science from University College London in 2010, where her PhD research focused on citizenship and the rights of noncitizens. She also holds a master’s degree in legal and political theory (with distinction) from University College London, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and literature from Warwick University.
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This meeting highlighted lessons from MPI Europe’s flagship Integration Futures initiative, which seeks to develop creative and strategic approaches to addressing today’s most difficult and pressing integration challenges—and to better plan for those around the corner.
Can people be 'nudged' into support for immigrant integration? On this webinar, speakers explored what untapped potential behavioral insights may hold for integration policy and how policymakers can start fitting this approach, which has been used in areas from tax compliance to organ donation, into their work.
This Migration Policy Institute Europe webinar examines possible scenarios for how social, economic, and technological trends could affect jobs, labor market policy, education and social policies, and migrant integration. Speakers also explored the potential of coding schools for refugees to help alleviate skills shortages and provide a pathway to work.
Amid the arrival of hundreds of thousands of children during the migration crisis in Europe, school systems are increasingly being called upon to find innovative ways to address growing diversity and support children with migrant backgrounds.
Following the arrival of large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe from 2015 onwards, many nontraditional actors—from tech start-ups to social enterprises—pioneered solutions to foster the social and economic inclusion of newcomers.
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To address the intersecting challenges facing European societies—from population aging and labor-market change, to immigration and political upheaval—governments need to hone new strategies for helping both newcomers and long-term residents succeed amid diversity. This report explores some of the most promising approaches, drawing on input from policymakers, the private sector, civil society, and others.
Following the dramatic defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the UK Parliament this week, all bets are off when it comes to whether the United Kingdom will crash out of the European Union on March 29 without a Brexit deal. A no-deal scenario would have seismic ramifications for the legal residence, work rights, benefits and pensions, and health care for nearly 1 million UK nationals living on the continent.
Across Europe, policymakers responsible for immigrant integration are dealing with a rapidly evolving set of challenges—from the diversification of new arrivals and changing European labor markets to rising anti-immigrant sentiment and tight budgets. This report explores promising strategies from other policy areas that could be used to develop, fund, evaluate, and make the case for investing in integration.
In many recent European and U.S. elections, candidates touting nativist populist and anti-immigrant platforms have enjoyed rising support. As populism moves from the fringes into the mainstream, this report takes stock of the economic and social forces driving its rise, the diverse ways populists are influencing immigration policymaking, and what it will take to build a new center around immigration and integration issues.
Governments are increasingly drawing on research into human behavior when developing policies that aim to encourage people to make better decisions, be it accessing preventative health care or paying taxes. This report explores how a similar approach of 'nudges' could be applied to immigrant integration policy to encourage social mixing, narrow socioeconomic gaps, and more.
European labor markets are poised to change significantly in the coming years as technological advancements and other forces reshape the world of work. While these developments will affect all workers, they have particular implications for immigrant integration. This report breaks down the factors driving change and explores promising policy innovations to help societies better prepare for it.
European countries have ramped up their investments in helping refugees find work and integrate into society. Yet little hard evidence exists of what programs and policies work best. This report proposes a new framework for thinking smartly about integration programming, using cost-benefit analysis to look beyond short-term, economic outcomes to also measure indirect benefits through a social-value concept.
Even with an EU-UK deal on citizens' rights post-Brexit, there is much uncertainty for Britons living abroad in Europe. This report takes stock of what has (and has not) been agreed—from questions of continued residence and family rights to health-care and labor-market access. It breaks down the looming—and urgent—challenges EU Member States face in designing systems to adjust the legal status of their British residents.
Too Little, Too Late? Contingency Planning for UK Nationals in Case of a No-Deal Brexit
The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy: Brexit Negotiating Stance towards Mobile EU Nationals Unveiled
A Game of Chess, Not Tennis: Unraveling the Rights and Status of “Brexpats”