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Social assistance among immigrants and natives in Sweden

Author

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  • Björn Anders Gustafsson

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the issue of social assistance receipt among immigrants to Sweden and compare to receipt by natives. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes the institutional background, reports statistical information and surveys the literature on the immigrant‐native disparity in social assistance receipt. Findings - Most out‐payment for social assistance in Sweden refers to foreign‐born persons, a category comprising 14 percent of the population. Immigrants tend to assimilate out of social assistance receipt. However, receipt continues to be higher many years after immigration among immigrants from non‐rich countries than for natives with several identical characteristics. The elevated probabilities of social assistance receipt among immigrants from non‐rich countries are interpreted to be mainly due to failed integration into the labor market at the destination. Practical implications - Policies for integrating immigrants into the labor market are also policies for reducing social assistance receipt among immigrants and reducing immigrant‐native social assistance disparity. However, other factors such as the structure of Swedish welfare policy play a role as well. Originality/value - This is the first survey of the literature on disparities in social assistance receipt between immigrants and natives in Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Anders Gustafsson, 2013. "Social assistance among immigrants and natives in Sweden," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(2), pages 126-141, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijmpps:v:34:y:2013:i:2:p:126-141
    DOI: 10.1108/01437721311320654
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gustafsson, Björn Anders & Katz, Katarina & Österberg, Torun, 2020. "Social Assistance Receipt among Young Adults Grown up in Different Neighbourhoods of Metropolitan Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 12880, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jan O. Jonsson & Carina Mood & Erik Bihagen, 2016. "Poverty trends during two recessions and two recoveries: lessons from Sweden 1991–2013," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Gustafsson, Björn Anders & Mac Innes, Hanna & Österberg, Torun, 2016. "Age at Immigration Matters for Labor Market Integration: The Swedish Example," IZA Discussion Papers 10423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Björn Gustafsson & Katarina Katz & Torun Osterberg, 2019. "Social Assistance Receipt Among Young Adults Who Grow Up in Different Neighborhoods of Metropolitan Sweden," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 302-324, December.

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