Spring Meetings

The 2015 migrant crisis has subsided, but integrating the large new stock of migrants into the labor market and society remains a daunting challenge for many European host countries. What do we know about the process of labor market integration for migrants of different characteristics? What factors help smooth the transition, and what are lessons for policymakers? Our work explores these questions by drawing from worker-level information from five recent waves of Eurostat’s Labor Force Surveys covering 13 major European economies. Specifically, we estimate the native-immigrant employment gap upon the immigrant’s arrival in the host country and subsequent speed of catching up. We also examine the roles of education and initial macroeconomic conditions in affecting the integration process.