Which Integration Policies Work? The Heterogeneous Impact of National Institutions on Immigrants’ Labor Market Attainment in Europe

Can specific policies support the economic integration of immigrants? Despite the crucial importance of this question, existing evidence is inconclusive. Using data from the European Social Survey, we estimate the effects of integration and anti-discrimination policies, alongside social expenditure and labor market regulation, on the labor market performance of 6,176 non-European immigrants across 23 European countries. We make three contributions: 1) we investigate the distinct role of discrete policy areas for labor market integration outcomes, 2) we allow for heterogeneous effects of policies on immigrants with different characteristics, and 3) we examine immigrants’ occupational attainment while accounting for their selection into employment. We find that immigrants’ employment chances are negatively associated with national levels of expenditure on welfare benefits but positively associated with policies facilitating immigrant access to social security. We also find that labor market rigidity is negatively associated with immigrants’ occupational attainment, but we find little evidence that policies aimed at supporting the transferability of immigrants’ qualifications promote their occupational success. Our results strongly suggest that anti-discrimination policies are important for immigrant economic integration. Yet while these policies are associated with greater occupational success for all female immigrants, they seem to be only positively associated with the occupational attainment of higher-skilled and non-Muslim immigrant men. As this article suggests, anti-discrimination policies can foster immigrants’ labor market success, yet these policies currently fail to reach those who face the strongest anti-immigrant sentiments — that is, unskilled male immigrants and Muslim immigrant men.

Is there a bilingual advantage? the effects of non-English language skills on occupational attainment among immigrants and natives

There is a considerable number of studies that analyze the benefits of language(s) in the labor market. It is a sensitive topic because of its relevance for language maintenance, and therefore, for the selective acculturation of immigrants in host societies. In this paper, the effect of non-English language fluency on the occupational attainment of immigrants and natives is analyzed, both in terms of occupational wages and socio-economic status. Results indicate that there is no advantage associated with non-English language fluency, either for natives or immigrants. Rather, a penalty for the specific case of Spanish fluency among immigrants was found. Three explanations from previous literature regarding the benefits of bilingualism in the labor market – human capital, devaluation and discrimination— are discussed in relation to the obtained results. The paper concludes with some recommendations about the recognition of language diversity in the labor market and policies aimed at the integrative acculturation of immigrants.

Entrenched Inequalities? Class, Gender and Ethnic Differences in Educational and Occupational Attainment in England

Research in social stratification tends to focus on class differences in educational and occupational attainment, with particular attention to primary and secondary effects in the former, and class reproduction in the latter, domain. Research in ethnic studies tends to focus, however, on ethnic penalty or premium. Many studies have been conducted in each tradition on specific issues but little research is available that examines class, gender and ethnic effects simultaneously or in tandem with contextual effects, let alone on the whole trajectory from compulsory schooling, through further and higher education, to labor market position. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, this paper shows pronounced class differences but remarkable gender progress in each of the educational domains. With regard to ethnicity, people from minority ethnic heritages had lower GCSE scores due to poorer family conditions but achieved higher transition rates to A-Level study, higher university enrollment and, for some groups, greater attendance at elite universities, resulting in an overall higher rate of degree-level attainment than did whites. One might expect members of ethnic minority backgrounds to fare equally well in their earlier careers in the labor market, but only to find them more vulnerable to unemployment, less likely to have earnings, and more disadvantaged in terms of disposable incomes.

U.S. Occupational Mobility of Children of Immigrants Based on Parents' Origin-Country Occupation

This study provides a national-level assessment of occupational mobility and early-career attainment of children of immigrants based on parents' origin-country occupation. Exploiting unique aspects of the Educational Longitudinal Study, we examine how parent-child U.S. intergenerational occupational mobility patterns and child occupational attainment differ based on parental premigration occupational status (i.e., low- vs. high-skilled) and parental postmigration occupational mobility (i.e., upward, same, or downward). Our results suggest misestimation in intergenerational mobility research if parents' origin-country occupation is excluded. Including parents' origin-country occupation, we find that the children of immigrants are recovering from instances of parental occupational downgrading, building on parental advances, and advancing where parents could not. Furthermore, most children of immigrants do as well or better occupationally than children of non-Hispanic White natives. Strong educational investments help explain this advantage, particularly for children of high-skilled immigrants. However, results indicate that all children of immigrants would attain even more if they faced fewer postmigration barriers, especially children of low-skilled immigrants. These results advance immigrant selection and assimilation theories by demonstrating how pre- and postmigration factors influence occupational attainment of children of immigrants.

Social origins, geographical mobility and occupational attainment in contemporary Italy

This paper studies the effect in the Italian case of geographical mobility on employment and occupational attainment, defined as access to the upper class, avoidance of the working class, and avoidance of agricultural jobs. It observes the distribution of its effect over the life course. Given that migration is a gendered phenomenon, we perform separate analyses by gender. Our data set, moreover, includes residential information at the municipality level, making it possible to specify geographical mobility in different ways, according to the distance, the characteristics of origin, and destination and the frequency of individual movements. Third, it studies whether the effects of geographical mobility change according to social class of origin and geographical area of origin.Our analyses, based on linear probability panel models with fixed effects, show a strong gender divide concerning the probability of employment and avoidance of the working class. A positive effect of geographical mobility on occupational outcomes appears to exist only as regards men, because for women the divergence between movers and stayers appears well before geographical mobility. Finally, the effects of geographical mobility are generally stronger for individuals originating from the middle and lower classes and from rural areas, but they are not so strong as to enable those individuals to substantially change their position in the occupational hierarchy.

Intergenerational mobility of sons and daughters: evidence from nineteenth-century West Flanders

Research on the intergenerational inheritance of occupational attainment has been restricted to sons for a long time. This is remarkable, given the ubiquity of historical settings where female labor force participation was high. This study of civil marriage certificates in nineteenth-century West Flanders investigates a comprehensive sample covering the economic activities not only of fathers and sons but also of mothers and daughters. We find that daughters were more mobile than sons. Daughters, however, enjoyed less growth in terms of intergenerational mobility against the background of a slowly industrializing economy.

Social origins, tracking and occupational attainment in Italy

Students and parents choose among high school tracks based on the assumption that academic tracks will offer a better preparation for university while vocational tracks will make the transition in the labour market easier, if students do not have a tertiary degree. We assess whether this assumption holds also when considering the long-term occupational outcomes of tracks choices in upper secondary education, controlling for both social and ability selection into tracks. We use for this purpose recent data from the 2014 ISFOL PLUS survey and apply linear regression/probability models to investigate labour market outcomes in a stage of occupational maturity. We find that, while there are no significant differences between tracks in the likelihood of being employed, students with an academic diploma fare better than vocational students in terms of social class attainment, even in the absence of a tertiary degree. The advantage of the academic diploma holds both for entering the salariat class and the high salariat class, and for avoiding demotion into manual occupations or unskilled manual occupations. We also show that tracking accounts for a large proportion of the total effects of socio-economic background on occupational attainment, and that coming from socio-economically advantaged families exacerbates the labour market advantages of attending an academic track.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>The link between social background, high school track and long-term occupational outcomes is analysed.</li><br /><li>Analyses control for social and ability selection into tracks.</li><br /><li>There are no significant differences between tracks in employment status at occupational maturity in Italy.</li><br /><li>Academic diploma holders have higher chances of entering the upper classes and lower risks of ending into manual occupations.</li></ul>

Returns to Educational and Occupational Attainment in Cognitive Performance for Middle-Aged South Korean Men and Women

Background: Gender differences in late middle-age cognitive performance may be explained by differences in educational or occupational attainment rates, or gender-patterned returns of similar education and occupation to cognitive reserve. We tested these competing hypotheses in the historically highly gender unequal context of South Korea. Methods: Data came from the 2006 wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. We included adults aged 45–65 years. Using quantile regression decompositions, we decomposed cognitive performance differences across quantiles into differences due to rates of educational and occupational attainment and differences due to divergent returns to those characteristics. Results: Gender-based cognitive performance differences across deciles were driven by differences in rates of educational and occupational attainment, while the returns to these characteristics were similar for both genders. Conclusions: Findings suggest that educational and occupational characteristics contribute to cognitive performance similarly in men and women, but discordant rates of these characteristics contribute to performance gaps.