The Employment Integration of Resettled Refugees, Asylum Claimants, and Family Reunion Migrants in Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID12333348
AuthorsP Bevelander (0000-0002-7001-4526, Malmö University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume30
Issue1
Pages22-43
Publication date2011-02-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRefugee Survey Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1020-4067 • E-ISSN: 1471-695X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/rsq/hdq041
OpenAlexW2054119843
LanguageEN
Citations received64

The employment integration of immigrants and in particular refugees in Swedish society has been the subject of many debates and constitutes one of the major political challenges faced in the last two decades. Like in many European countries, refugees are more likely to be unemployed, have temporary jobs and lower income. Most studies of immigrant economic integration have been undertaken at the national level, taking into account place of birth, but not by admission status. This study focuses on the employment integration by admission status by looking at the outcomes for resettled refugees, asylum claimants (asylum-seekers who may subsequently obtain a residence permit), and immigrants who arrive via family reunion migration. Using logistic regression methods we estimate the probability of having a job after controlling for a set of personal and immigrant intake characteristics as well as contextual factors. The results of the analysis indicate that family reunion immigrants have a faster employment attachment than asylum claimants which in turn have faster employment integration than resettled refugees in the Swedish labour market. The understanding of the results of the analysis is that selection processes (self-selection as well as selection through policy mechanisms) and networks are important factors explaining the employment integration of immigrants

Country of origin · Demographic economics · Economics · Immigration · Market integration · Political science · Refugee · Residence · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Law