This thematic report describes employment for persons aged 20-64 years who immigrated to Sweden as refugees or family members to refugees. The focus is on analysing employment in 2019 based on a number of background factors such as continent of birth, duration of residence in Sweden, and educational attainment.

Rising employment rate but major difference between groups

The report includes a comparison between the employment rate for refugees and family members, for other foreign born persons, and for persons born in Sweden. In the period 2010-2019, there was a general increase in the employment rate in all population groups, with the exception of women in the group refugee immigrants.

The employment rate varies considerably between different parts of the population and between the sexes. The employment rate among refugees and family members aged 20-64 years was 59.9 percent in 2019. This can be compared with 77.3 percent among other foreign born persons and 86.2 percent among persons born in Sweden. Among refugees and family members, the employment rate was 67.1 percent among men, and 51.0 percent among women.

Employment rate rises with longer duration of residence

The employment rate among refugees and family members varies by continent of birth. However, when duration of residence, that is, how long the person has lived in Sweden, is taken into account, these differences decrease significantly.

The gender gap in employment also narrows with a longer duration of residence in Sweden. The employment rate among refugee immigrants who have lived in Sweden for 0-9 years was 56.1 percent among men and 29.8 percent among women. Among people who have lived in Sweden for 20 years or longer, the employment rate was around 80 percent for both men and women.

Minor gender gap among highly educated people

The employment rate is clearly linked to educational attainment, in which people with a lower educational attainment have a lower employment rate compared with people with a high educational attainment. This applies for both refugees and other foreign born persons as well as persons born in Sweden. For all levels of educational attainment, the employment rate was lower among refugees and family members than among other population groups.

Among refugee immigrants, there is a large gender gap in employment for people with an educational attainment of secondary or upper secondary school education. Among people with secondary school education, the employment rate was 52.0 percent for men and 27.9 percent for women. For persons with post-upper secondary school education, the gender gap has narrowed; the employment rate in this group was 73.5 percent among men and 70.4 percent among women.

Factors correlated with employment

A regression analysis is used to examine what factors are correlated with employment among refugees and family members. Rather than using a comparative analysis between refugees and other groups, the analysis aims to understand what factors within the group are correlated with employment. The study only presents correlations and not causal connections.

Demographic variables play an important role in the probability of being employed. Both the descriptive analysis and the regression analysis show that women in the group refugees and family members have a significantly lower probability of being employed. This result still applies after age, education, and other background factors have been taken into account.

The probability of being employed is estimated to be highest around 30 years for both sexes. The gender gap narrows with age and is not significant among the oldest age groups.

The probability of being employed increases with the length of duration of residence in Sweden. This connection appears to be stronger for women than for men, which means that the gender gap in employment narrows with longer duration of residence. For people with a duration of residence of more than 20 years, the gender gap is not significant.

Among refugee immigrants, women with children younger than 7 years living at home had a lower probability of being employed compared with women with no children living at home. For men, on the other hand, having children living at home did not appear to be significant linked to employment.

The analysis indicates that the effect of higher education attainment is greater for women than for men in the group refugees and family members. In other words, the gender gap in employment is narrower among people with a high educational attainment than among people with a low educational attainment. According to this model, there is no significant difference between the sexes among highly educated people in the group refugees and family members.

A more detailed presentation can be found in the report:

Labour Force Surveys (LFS) – Theme: Employment among refugees and their family members in 2019