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Immigration and Poverty: Findings from Cyprus

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  • Christos Koutsampelas

Abstract

In this paper we employ the 2009 Family Expenditure Survey conducted by the Statistical Service of Cyprus in order to measure the poverty risk among immigrants in Cyprus. Results show that immigrants face a higher risk and depth of poverty than the native population. Large intra-group variation exists. Poverty risk is considerably higher for non-Europeans and, within the group of Europeans, migrants from Western Europe are better off than those from Eastern Europe. Econometric analysis shows that the worst position of immigrants cannot be explained solely by socioeconomic characteristics, suggesting that this is the outcome of discriminatory practices in the income-generating process. Moreover, we found that the results of the analysis are sensitive to the definition of income. In particular, the inclusion of imputed rent in the notion of income increases the measured poverty gap between natives and immigrants even further, due to the lower incidence of homeownership among immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Christos Koutsampelas, 2012. "Immigration and Poverty: Findings from Cyprus," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 13-2012, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:13-2012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Poverty; Immigration; Cyprus; Imputed rents;
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