THE EMPLOYMENT INTEGRATION OF RESETTLED REFUGEES, ASYLUM CLAIMANTS, AND FAMILY REUNION MIGRANTS IN SWEDEN

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.