Did German Jews Remain German Jews Once They Left Their Homeland?

This chapter addresses the social history and geographical extent of the German-Jewish diaspora during the two major periods of migration: the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It asks what drove Jews to leave Germany during both eras and analyzes their integration and that of their children into the new societies. Focusing on religious, linguistic, organizational, and employment patterns, the chapter also addresses the tensions within these immigrant communities between adapting to their new environments and retaining the literature, music, and culture of their German-Jewish heritage.

Employment Patterns of SSI-First Awardees Who Enter SSDI After Achieving Disability-Insured Status

This article uses administrative data from the Social Security Administration to explore the employment patterns and characteristics of individuals awarded Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits between 2001 and 2009 who later became disability insured and qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). While these individuals are a small portion of all SSI and SSDI beneficiaries, they are particularly interesting because they demonstrate a desire and ability to work despite the health conditions that make them eligible for disability benefits. On average, 2.3% of SSI-first awardees enter SSDI after they become disability insured within 5 years of their SSI award. These SSI awardees are younger than other SSI awardees and are more likely to achieve work-related milestones during the 5 years after SSI award. Although awardees in this group show signs of an ability to work, they gradually start dropping out of the labor force starting 5 months before SSDI benefits begin and drop out in greater numbers through the first year of SSDI benefits. This suggests that some of them may work enough to achieve disability-insured status but stop when they enter SSDI.

Crossing Social Boundaries in an Immigration Context: Exogamy and Gendered Employment Patterns in Unions in Germany

We study gendered employment patterns in unions by focusing on the role of exogamy for non-migrants in Germany. Classical assimilation theory has studied such mixed migrant-non-migrant unions mainly with a focus on the members of ethnic minorities. However, this perspective neglects the question of the social consequences of exogamy for the members of the majority group. We aim to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the association of being in a mixed union and the employment patterns of the couple. Our theoretical considerations and working hypotheses are derived from modernization theories, welfare state and labor market theories, gender studies, and social boundary-crossing frameworks. Drawing on the scientific use file of the German Microcensus of 2013, our sample consists of 44,499 non-migrant men (about 7% of whom are in a mixed union with a migrant) and 43,722 non-migrant women (about 5% of whom are in a mixed union). We estimate multinomial logistic regression models. We conclude that the persistent disadvantage for immigrants on the labor market in Germany shapes the gendered employment patterns of their unions, which, in turn, affect the members of the majority population. For non-migrant men, exogamy is associated with a re-traditionalization of employment patterns, whereby a man is more likely to be the main earner if he is in an exogamous union than if he is in an endogamous union. For non-migrant women, by contrast, we find evidence of a role reversal in exogamous unions, whereby the woman is more likely to be the main earner.

Network explanations of the gender gap in migrants’ employment patterns: Use of online and offline networks in the Netherlands

Objective: We investigate the relation between having online and offline personal networks and employment for male and female migrants in the Netherlands. Background: Previous research diagnoses an alarming gender gap for migrants in their employment patterns. Although social networks are identified as being crucial for migrants’ labor market participation, we know very little about how migrant men and women differ in their social networks and how these differences translate into varying employment opportunities. Method: Drawing on the Dutch Immigrant Panel of LISS (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences) dataset, we examined migrants’ employment patters who have arrived to the Netherlands under different migration streams by conducting logistic regression models. Results: We identify two major findings. While contrary to our expectations, migrant women tend to be connected with those who are employed and with a Dutch background, less connected to men and have a rather dense network structure. Nonetheless, women’s personal networks do not significantly account for their unemployment, but rather their less use of LinkedIn than migrant men. Conclusion: Our findings have implications in understanding network inequalities for female migrants in their labor market participation.