Immigrant integration and settlement

On observe deux grandes phases de l’évolution démographique de l’après-guerre au Québec. La première étant le baby-boom qui concerne les générations très nombreuses nées entre 1946 et 1966 et qui fut plus important au Québec que dans la majorité des autres pays touchés par ce phénomène. La seconde étant le baby-bust, qui lui, concerne les générations nées après 1966. L’écho du baby-boom fut relativement peu important par la dimension des cohortes de naissances concernées, et nettement insuffisant pour rétablir un certain équilibre dans la dimension des cohortes de naissances, d’où l’analogie avec « The Pig and The Python ». Cependant, une politique d’ouverture sur l’immigration internationale a fait en sorte que la disproportion entre les effectifs des baby-boomers et celles des baby-busters s’atténue graduellement au cours du cycle de vie. L’objectif de la présente communication est de montrer: L’écart important entre les effectifs dans leur jeunesse ; Un écart de moins en moins important aux âges adultes du à l’immigration nette ; une quai-disparition de l’écart dans les âges de la retraite du à cette immigration cumulative.

n this paper, we explore gender differences in naturalization among migrants from DR Congo in Belgium. First, we measure gender differences in probabilities of acquiring Belgian citizenship using two data sources (population register and the MAFE survey on Congolese migrants in Belgium). Using the MAFE survey, we next look at the determinants of naturalization using event history data and test several hypotheses on the determinants of naturalization. Finally, we look at the differential effects of naturalization among males and females, and argue that this allow understanding gender differences in the propensities of changing citizenship.

In the burgeoning migration literature much of the attention both among researchers and policy makers focuses on voluntary migration while forced migration is of major significance in the contemporary world. Understandably there is a focus on the movement of refugees from the country of origin to the destination place but it is also relevant to ask whether refugees who arrive in the destination place will remain and adapt to the host society, and if so, to what extent their adaptation patterns influence their return strategies. This is the area in which the present paper seeks to make a contribution by examining the experience of second-generation Afghan refugees in Iran. Using the survey of ‘the Adaptation of Afghan Youth in Iran’ conducted in Tehran and Mashhad in 2010, the paper addresses the following questions: What are the patterns of social adaptation among second-generation Afghans? What are the return aspirations and intentions of second-generation Afghans? To what extent do the adaptation patterns influence their return strategies? The findings suggest that the second-generation Afghans have experienced a variety of adaptation patterns, and their adaptation patterns have significant impacts on their decision to return to their homeland or to move to another destination.

Developed countries compete to attract and retain high-skilled immigrants. Canada implemented in 1967 a points system to select immigrants in terms of their skills, experience and demographic characteristics. Multiculturalism as a policy aims at integrating immigrants into Canadian society. The presence of dissatisfaction among the foreign-born challenges these policies and even more so if those dissatisfied are the high-skilled. How immigrants assess their experience in Canada will impact emigration, settlement patterns, future immigration, and ultimately, social cohesion and national identity. Who are those dissatisfied after six months and after for years? Is dissatisfaction the result of unrealistic expectations of the immigration experience? How do indicators of integration relate to changes in satisfaction? How do these relationships differ by motivations for migration and entry status? The paper studies changes on immigrant self-rated satisfaction with the experience in the first four years upon arrival using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada. The descriptive analysis of differences in satisfaction by type of expectations, time spent and entry status is followed by Logistic Fixed Effects Models studying the relationship of changes in satisfaction with economic, social and institutional integration.

The religiosity of Muslim immigrants in Europe has become a popular topic for research. Where recent quantitative studies show that secularization is stagnating, qualitative studies have found the emergence of localized version of Islam; such as a French, Dutch or British Islam. Quantitative studies that have used general population surveys may have underestimated the role of cross-national differences because of problems of sample selection. One of the few cross-national migrant studies, TIES, focuses on the second generation. This paper aims to complement existing knowledge by analyzing data from a migrant-survey conducted in six European countries (SCIICS) among two immigrant groups (Turks and Moroccans) and includes multiple generations. It looks at four indicators of religiosity: religious identification, mosque visits, observance of dietary rules, and religious orthodoxy. It examines a range of individual level factors including social contacts with majority group members and residence country identification. At the residence country level, effects of policies of religious accommodation are explored. The results show several significant cross-national differences but these cannot easily be traced back to differences in religious accommodation or religiousness of the majority population.

We investigate the determinants of language use between migrant parents and their children in Flanders. Coleman’s family capital theory serves as the theoretical orientation of the study. Differences in physical, human and social capital are believed to account for differences found between migrant families’ use of the heritage and/or destination language (Dutch) at home. Furthermore, we expect that variances in ethnic capital (e.g. ethnic background and ethnocultural family type) might explain different linguistic repertoires. Last but not least, family structure is believed to serve as a gateway through which different forms of family capital influence the use of heritage language. Data from 900 migrant adolescents from the Leuvens Adolescents’ and Families Study is analyzed by means of Multinomial Logistic Regression and subsequent Multilevel Regression Models where school and neighborhood variables are included. Preliminary correlation analyses indicate that language-use is related to background variables such as ethnicity and ethnocultural family type. Some family capital variables appear to be significant (parental conflict, parental dissolution, human & physical capital of mother) while others are not (relationship quality with parents & physical capital of father). More data will be collected during the fall of 2012.

This paper examines the impact of migrant networks on the labour market trajectories of Senegalese men in Europe. The general assumption in the literature is that membership in co-ethnic networks enhances immigrants’ employment opportunities at destination. This assumption has increasingly been challenged on both empirical and theoretical grounds. Using longitudinal data recently collected within the framework of the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) project, this paper is able to avoid usual biases, such as reverse causality. Moreover, the transnational nature of the sample - Senegalese current and return migrants were interviewed in France, Italy, Spain and Senegal - allows for investigating the influence of the context of reception in the functioning of networks. Findings reveal a heterogenous picture, as effects depend on the context of destination, the time since arrival and the legal status of the migrant. Having close kin at destination enables legal migrants to engage in a longer job search. Both kin and friends increase chances of gaining access to semi or skilled employment and protect from the more precarious status of self-employment in France, but do not have the same effects in Italy or Spain, where the Senegalese community is more recent and less diverse in terms of socio-economic status.

There is a growing demand for highly skilled labour force in Germany. The ability of regions to attract sufficient labour force becomes more and more important, considering the aging and shrinking working population. It can be assumed that places with universities have an advantage in attracting highly skilled labour because of the continuous inflow of students. Among them, one can find more and more international students. Understanding which factors have an influence on their intention to stay or leave the region is the focus of this study. Based on the creative class theory a case study was conducted among 253 international Master and PhD students at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis, we established that the majority of international students can imagine staying in the region after graduation, while most of them are not familiar with regional companies. These results show that international students and companies do not have sufficient access to each other and imply that efforts have to be made to promote the publicity of regional companies in order to retain international talents.

Return migration flows to Latin America have significantly increased since 2009, after the economic crisis settled in full form in Europe and the United States. This paper aims to analyze the recent return of Latin Americans based on the last wave of census micro-data for four countries, namely: Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay. They belong to the group of countries that registered high out-migration flows in the last decades.
The main objective is to quantify the return to these countries, analyzing the figures by country of origin and demographic characteristics of the recent returnees, paying special attention to their probability of employment. Firstly, probability of employment of returnees will be compared with the population that did not migrate in the last decade, by means of a binomial logistic model. Secondly, we assess differences in the labor performance among returnees in the four countries under study through a multinomial logistic regressionmodel.

The fertility of immigrants’ children,although under documented, increasingly shapes the ethnic diversity of the European population. This paper provides novel fertility estimates for immigrant and second generation women in the UK, by ethnic groupings (including Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Black African, White British and White Other), using the LFS-OCM method. The LFS-OCM estimates correct for migration-specific tempo effects, minimising the risk of overestimation of immigrants’ fertility using classical Period TFR. Results reveal intergenerational fertility transitions that strongly contribute to the fertility convergence between ethnic groups and indicating degrees of fertility ‘assimilation’ or ‘intergenerational adaptation’ to the UK mainstream childbearing behaviour, although ethnic differences remain. The analysis of fertility by educational attainment of women reveals consistent educational association with fertility patterns across immigrant and ethnic groups. Results provide evidence for educational/structural factors to be major determinants of ethnic fertility differentials and intergenerational changes and suggest a ‘socialisation’ impact of the UK context in shaping fertility of the second generation. Departure from the classical assimilation theory for some groups is discussed.