Job Quality as a Crucial Measure of Migrants’ Economic Integration

Abstract

Research highlights the challenges migrants face when integrating into labour markets, often being concentrated in low-skilled, low-paid, physically demanding jobs. Intersectionality creates multiple layers of disadvantage. Traditional studies focus on labour market entrance and earnings as indicators of integration, but fewer explore factors such as job security or subjective evaluations. This chapter examines the job quality of migrants, differentiating between work migrants, family migrants and refugees compared to the native-born population. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, including the IAB-BAMF SOEP Survey of Refugees and the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample 2016–2022, differences in various dimensions of job quality are explored by gender and migration duration. The findings reveal that, while earnings improve with duration, for some migrant groups, other dimensions such as job security do not comparably improve. Identifying the barriers to integration is crucial to policies on improving social and labour market integration, particularly for disadvantaged migrant groups.