economic integration; immigration; income inequality; reason for immigration; Switzerland
Abstract :
[en] The paper focuses on economic disadvantage (loss) or economic advantage (gain) among first- and second-generation immigrants in Switzerland in comparison to the Swiss majority group. We distinguish between economic and noneconomic (political, family reunion, and educational pursuit) immigrants. Utilising data from the 2007 Swiss Health Survey, we found that economic immigrant males are able to attain higher income than the comparable majority group already in the first generation, whereas female economic immigrants manage to do so only in the second generation. Educational male immigrants are doing almost as well in Switzerland as male economic immigrants. In the second generation, female noneconomic immigrants are economically better integrated than their male counterparts when compared to a similar Swiss majority group. Female immigrants are able to close the pay gap with the Swiss majority group. The meaning and implications of the findings are discussed in light of immigration theory in general and the Swiss immigration policy in particular.
Disciplines :
Sociology & social sciences
Author, co-author :
MASKILEYSON, Dina ✱; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Social Sciences (DSOC) > Political Science ; Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, The Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Semyonov, Moshe ✱; Department of Labor Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Davidov, Eldad ✱; Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, The Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany ; Department of Sociology, and URPP Social Networks, University of Zurich, Switzerland
✱ These authors have contributed equally to this work.
External co-authors :
yes
Language :
English
Title :
Economic integration of first- and second-generation immigrants in the Swiss labour market: Does the reason for immigration make a difference?
We thank the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for providing Swiss Health Survey (SHS) data. The third author would like to thank the University of Zurich research priority programme “Social Networks.” All authors would like to thank Lisa Trierweiler for the English proof of the manuscript.
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