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Highly educated refugees find jobs faster

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-07-07 9.30

Highly educated refugees who immigrated to Sweden as adults in the early 1990s entered the labour market more quickly in the 2000s compared with refugees with a lower level of education. This gap widened further over time.

In 2000, four in ten highly educated refugees who immigrated to Sweden in the period 1991-1995 had entered the labour market. The corresponding figure among persons with a low level of education was just under two in ten persons. Highly educated refers to persons with a post-secondary education of at least three years, and a low level of education refers to persons who attended folk high school or compulsory school. In 2017, the proportion of highly educated refugees who had entered the labour market had risen to 75 percent, while among refugees with a low level of education the corresponding figure was just under four in ten refugees.

Many refugees who immigrated in the early 1990s came from former Yugoslavia. Around half of those who immigrated as adults (20-40 years at the time of immigration) came from one of these countries. The proportion of those who had entered the labour market has been higher throughout the 2000s for persons from former Yugoslavia compared with refugees from other countries, among both persons with a high level and a low level of education.

Adult refugees from former Yugoslavia 2000-2017, in the labour market, by level of education

Chart

Adult refugees from other countries 2000-2017, in the labour market, by level of education

Chart

Only one in ten refugees who immigrated as adults between 1995 and 2017 have attended some form of Swedish education at post-secondary school level. The proportion of persons in 2017 who had entered the labour market was considerably higher among those persons compared with refugees with a foreign post-secondary education.

Adult refugees in the labour market, 2017, by educational background

Chart

Just over half of the adult refugees who completed a Swedish post-secondary education already had a post-secondary education at the time of immigration. It was very uncommon for persons with a compulsory education at the time of immigration to complete a Swedish post-secondary education in the period 1995-2017.

Definitions and explanations

The establishment measure provides a rough picture of an individual’s attachment to the labour market and is primarily used to facilitate comparisons of various groups’ attachment to the labour market over time and comparisons between different groups at a certain point in time. To be classified as having entered the labour market, the following applies:

  • Income from work at least SEK 197 000 (for 2017)
  • Employed, according to the Employment Register definition (for November)
  • No events that indicate unemployment and no events that indicate labour market policy measures that are not defined as employment.

Publication

A more detailed presentation of the results are available in the report (with a summary in English)
The significance of educational background for refugee immigrants’ integration in the labour market

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.

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