SOEP Research: Migration and Integration

A Variety of Measures and Initiatives Can Accelerate the Immigration Process for Today’s Refugees: Five Questions to Martin Kroh

Many Refugees Have Work Experience but a Smaller Share Possess Formal Vocational Qualifications

Academic and vocational qualifications play a crucial role when it comes to successfully integrating refugees and other migrants into society. What qualifications did migrants already acquire in their country of origin and which did they obtain in Germany? And to what extent are qualifications gained abroad recognized in Germany? The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample shows that the majority of the migrant ...

Language Acquisition: Refugees Nearly Achieve Proficiency Level of Other Migrants

Whether they’re looking to participate in social life, enter the German labor market, or obtain relevant training certificates, learning German is a critical part of integration for the majority of refugees—and yet only a handful of studies have examined their language acquisition patterns and skill levels. The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample, which was collected by the Institute for Employment Research ...

Refugees Entered the Labor Market Later Than Other Migrants

It has taken longer for refugees who have been living in Germany for some time, particularly those who arrived between 1990 and 2010, to take up gainful employment than other migrants. These findings are based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample. In addition, these refugees show a higher rate of unemployment and earn lower incomes by comparison even years ...

Half of the Refugees in Germany Found Their First Job Through Social Contacts

In Germany, the majority of people tend to find work through friends, acquaintances, and relatives when they first enter the labor market or switch jobs. The same applies to immigrants and their offspring. Integrating refugees into the labor market is considered crucial to their overall integration into society, yet little is known about how they land their first jobs. The present paper attempts to ...

IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany

The Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), and the Research Centre on Migration, Integration, and Asylum of the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) are working together on a project to survey people seeking protection in Germany from political persecution and violent conflicts. The influx...

Refugee Families in Germany (Geflüchtete Familien in Deutschland, GeFam)

Conception, Implementation, Preparation, Register Linkage, Analysis, and Data Provision/Distribution of a Representative Sample of Refugee Families (GeFam) The survey topics cover the refugees’ living situations; their schooling, higher education, and vocational training; and their current occupational situations and social participation. Participation in the survey is voluntary. The study is...

Language Acquisition of Recently Arrived Immigrants in England, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands

This study examines processes of language acquisition among new immigrants from Poland and Turkey in different European destinations focusing on the first few months after arrival. Starting from a human capital framework, a variety of pre- and post-migration conditions of language learning are addressed, including economic and non-economic incentives, the amount of exposure to the destination language ...

Turning back to Turkey - or Turning the Back on Germany? Remigration Intentions and Behavior of Turkish Immigrants in Germany between 1984 and 2011

Der Beitrag der Frage nach, wie sich die Remigrationsabsichten und das Remigrationsverhalten türkischstämmigerEinwanderer in Deutschland im Zeitverlauf verändert haben, und wertet dazu alle Erhebungswellen dessozio-çkonomischen Panels (SOEP) ereignisdatenanalytisch aus. Die Befunde zeigen, dass Remigrationsabsichten und-raten türkischstämmiger Einwanderer seit der Jahrtausendwende angestiegen sind, ...

Measuring Transnationality of Immigrants in Germany: Prevalence and Relationship with Social Inequalities

The scope of immigrants' transnational ties and the relationship to their social position is subject to a controversial debate that suggests a dualistic picture. On the one hand, globalization theorists argue that an elite of highly educated and economically most successful professionals intensively engages in and benefits from transnationality. On the other hand, most scholars in migration and assimilation ...