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The labour market position of second-generation immigrants in Belgium

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent Corluy

    (Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid Herman Deleeck – Universiteit Antwerpen; Centrum voor Economische Studiën – KU Leuven)

  • Joost Haemels

    (Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid Herman Deleeck – Universiteit Antwerpen)

  • Ive Marx

    (Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid Herman Deleeck – Universiteit Antwerpen)

  • Gerlinde Verbist

    (Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid Herman Deleeck – Universiteit Antwerpen)

Abstract

Belgium has one of the largest gaps in labour market outcomes between natives and individuals of foreign origin. One might expect that the children of migrants (the so-called second generation) would perform better than the first generation, as they ought to have a better knowledge of the local language, better educational qualifications and greater opportunities for work experience in the domestic labour market. On the basis of data from the ad hoc module of 2008 Labour Force Survey (LFS) we find that employment rates for generation migrants in Belgium are hardly better than those for first generation migrants. This finding stands in marked contrast what is found in neighbouring countries. Using a unique combination of data sources, we examine the labour market position of second-generation migrants in more depth. We find considerable variation in labour market outcomes by country of origin and a Fairlie decomposition yields that education is an important explanatory factor of the employment rate gap. Yet there still remains a large unexplained part.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Corluy & Joost Haemels & Ive Marx & Gerlinde Verbist, 2015. "The labour market position of second-generation immigrants in Belgium," Working Paper Research 285, National Bank of Belgium.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201509-285
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Neumark, 1988. "Employers' Discriminatory Behavior and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
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    Cited by:

    1. Valentine Jacobs & Kevin Pineda-Hernández & François Rycx & Mélanie Volral, 2023. "Does over-education raise productivity and wages equally? The moderating role of workers’ origin and immigrants’ background," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 698-724, November.
    2. Pineda-Hernández, Kevin & Rycx, François & Volral, Mélanie, 2022. "Moving Up the Social Ladder? Wages of First- and Second-Generation Immigrants from Developing Countries," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1204, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Elena Grinza & Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2020. "L’union fait la force? Evidence for wage discrimination in firms with high diversity," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(2), pages 181-211, June.
    4. Céline Piton & François Rycx, 2021. "A Broken Social Elevator? Employment Outcomes of First- and Second-Generation Immigrants in Belgium," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 319-365, August.
    5. Julie Vinck & Wim Van Lancker, 2020. "An Intersectional Approach towards Parental Employment in Families with a Child with a Disability: The Case of Belgium," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(2), pages 228-261, April.
    6. Layla Van den Berg & Jonas Wood & Karel Neels, 2021. "Socioeconomic preconditions to union formation: Exploring variation by migrant background," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(32), pages 973-1010.
    7. Céline Piton, 2022. "The labour market performance of vulnerable groups: towards a better understanding of the main driving forces," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352519, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Céline Piton & François Rycx, 2020. "The Heterogeneous Employment Outcomes of First- and Second-generation Immigrants in Belgium," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020007, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Second generation immigrants; labour market outcomes; decomposition methods; educational attainment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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