Migrant labour market integration: the association between initial settlement and subsequent employment and income among migrants

Abstract

The neighbourhood effects literature indicates that a person's place of residence may affect their socio-economic situation. This study examines the association between the initial settlement and immigrants' employment and income. Previous studies mostly used administratively defined geographical units of study, which may have led to an underestimation of neighbourhood effects. The current study uses individualized neighbourhoods, where neighbourhoods are constructed based on each individual's closest neighbours using geocoded register data, on different scales. In this way, more of the individual's actual neighbourhood is captured. The longitudinal study follows three cohorts of migrants and examines the relationship between the initial neighbourhoods that migrants settle in and their employment and income, in the short and medium-long term. The results show clear associations between neighbourhoods of initial settlement and labour market integration. Starting off in neighbourhoods with high levels of deprivation is associated with lower levels of employment while settling in affluent neighbourhoods is associated with higher incomes. Findings are stable for different migrant cohorts and in the short and long term. Neighbourhood effects are substantial especially for those settling in the most deprived or the most affluent neighbourhoods.

A geographical path to integration? Exploring the interplay between regional context and labour market integration among refugees in Sweden

“…First, while many studies solely analysed the effect of migrants' residential context upon arrival in Sweden (sometimes called 'port of entry') (e.g. Edin, Fredriksson, and Åslund 2004;Åslund and Rooth 2007;Åslund, Östh, and Zenou 2010;Andersson, Musterd, and Galster 2018;Wimark, Haandrikman, and Nielsen 2019), the use of event history analysis allowed us to follow refugees' residential context over a longer period, incorporating changes in residential context in our analyses. A second innovative aspect is that we used individual-centred neighbourhoods instead of predefined administrative areas to investigate contextual effects on employment.…”

“…Yet, the previous Swedish studies employing that method (e.g. Musterd et al 2008;Wimark, Haandrikman, and Nielsen 2019) focused on the broader immigrant population and not specifically on refugees. Third, we measured neighbourhood context based on the proportion of non-Western neighbours.…”

“…Other studies have analysed other neighbourhood characteristics, such as level of deprivation (e.g. Wimark, Haandrikman and Nielsen 2019) or proportion of co-nationals, e.g. (Andersson, Musterd, and Galster 2018).…”

“…Within academia, the significance of the residential environment for the socioeconomic integration of international migrants is analysed in a rich body of neighbourhood effects literature. In the Swedish context, some studies have found that residence in deprived neighbourhoods hampers immigrants' employment and income prospects (Musterd et al 2008;Wimark, Haandrikman and Nielsen 2019), while other studies highlight the positive effects of immigrant concentration (Edin, Fredriksson, and Åslund 2003;Andersson and Hammarstedt 2015). A parallel strain of research explores the associations between immigrants' initial place of residence and their subsequent socioeconomic integration.…”

Migrants’ long-term residential trajectories in Sweden: persistent neighbourhood deprivation or spatial assimilation?

“…We also demonstrated that migrants from Africa and the Middle East are more likely to follow such a trajectory compared to migrants from other world regions. Migrants' persisting neighbourhood deprivation is particularly worrisome in in light of the empirical evidence of negative effects of residential income segregation for socioeconomic integration (see, e.g., Hedberg & Tammaru 2013;Musterd et al, 2008;Wimark, Haandrikman, & Nielsen, 2019). Continued policy efforts to counteract segregation are thus essential.…”