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Immigrant Participation in Welfare Benefits in the Netherlands

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  • Zorlu, Aslan

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

The efficiency of Dutch welfare system is at the heart of debate as long as immigrants are overrepresented in social welfare benefits during the working age period. This paper examines the degree of participation in social assistance, disability and unemployment benefits across ethnic groups using register data of the entire population in the Netherlands. The analysis shows that migrants are drastically more likely to have a benefit, in particular social assistance and disability benefits. A large part of migrants' dependence can be explained by their background characteristics and immigration history but still a significant unexplained residual is left. Most notably, the probability of welfare use of non-western second generation is about twice as high as the probability of western immigrants, which is a true challenge for policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Zorlu, Aslan, 2011. "Immigrant Participation in Welfare Benefits in the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 6128, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6128
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp6128.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joop Hartog & Aslan Zorlu, 2009. "How important is homeland education for refugees’ economic position in The Netherlands?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(1), pages 219-246, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inactivity; ethnic minorities; benefits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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