Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/193199 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11905
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the labor market trajectories of refugees who arrived in Belgium between 2003 and 2009. Belgium has offered relatively easy formal labor market access to refugees but they face many other barriers in its strongly regulated and institutionalized labor market. Using the Belgian Labour Force Survey linked to longitudinal administrative data, we estimate event history models to compare refugees' entry into and exit out of the first employment, contrasting their outcomes with family and labor migrants of the same arrival cohort. The analysis shows that refugees take significantly longer to enter their first employment as compared to other migrant groups. They also run a greater risk of exiting out of their first employment into unemployment and (back) into social assistance. The results suggest that quick formal access clearly does not suffice for sustainable integration in the labor market. Additional education and labor market measures appear needed to enhance a more durable integration.
Subjects: 
refugees
family migrants
labor migrants
labor market transitions
event history analysis
JEL: 
F22
J15
J61
J68
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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