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Refugees’ income sources during their first 15 years in Sweden

Large diversity in refugees’ sources of income

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2018-11-29 9.30

Among those who immigrated as refugees, 60 percent had gainful employment as their main source of income during a significant part of their first fifteen years in Sweden. The main source of income for one out of three persons came from some economic security system, such as labour market policy measures, sickness benefit or social assistance, during a large part of the period.

Refugees’ income sources during their first 15 years in Sweden

Quickly joined the workforce

This is the largest group and accounts for 30 percent of all those in the study. During the 15 years of the study, their income has mainly come from gainful employment during most of these years. This group consists mainly of persons who were young when they immigrated and persons with a post-secondary education. Men and women are equally represented in this group.

Prolonged period without employment

In this group, the main source of income during the first years after immigration is social assistance. The main source of income then transitions mostly to income from gainful employment. This is the second largest group, and as in the group "Quickly joined the workforce", there are no differences between the sexes. The group consists mainly of young people, and persons from Africa and Asia are overrepresented, compared with other regions.

Weak position on labour market

This group includes persons who found a job, but became unemployed after a few years. Their main income then derives from unemployment benefit or labour market policy measures. This is the smallest group and accounts 5 percent of all persons in the study. There are more men than women in this group. Persons in this group were older, on the whole, when they immigrated and have compulsory education as their educational attainment level.

Reduced capacity to work

One out of ten persons followed in the study are included this group. Most people in this group subsist on social assistance during their first years, then gainful employment, and finally sickness benefit or sick leave compensation. The group consists mainly of persons who were older when they immigrated, persons with compulsory education, and quota refugees. Women and men are equally represented in this group.

Many years receiving social assistance

This group accounts for 20 percent of all those in the study; persons in this group received social assistance for most of the 15 years in the study. The group is dominated by women, those who were older when they immigrated, quota refugees and persons from Africa and Asia.

Leaves Sweden

This group accounts for 10 percent of those included in the study, and they have in common that for one or more of the years in the study, they were not registered as living in Sweden. The group consists of more men than women, and more people from Africa than from other continents. About 20 percent of both women and men from Africa left Sweden.

Most of them had both social assistance and gainful employment

Gainful employment was the main source of income for 80 percent of the persons in this study during one of their first fifteen years in Sweden and 86 percent received social assistance for at least one year. The main source of income was gainful employment for, on average, eight years and social assistance for, on average, 4.8 years.

The report concludes with a comparison between the refugees described here and those who immigrated in the most recent five years.

Definitions and explanations

The report presents those who immigrated as refugees and family members of refugees between 1997 and 2001 aged 18–49 years at the time of immigration.

Data has been collected via Statistics Sweden’s various registers and databases on different types of income concerning their first fifteen years in Sweden. The income that makes up the largest share of an individual’s total annual income each year is referred to as that individual’s main source of income. Using cluster analysis, these individuals were divided into six clusters, or groups, of persons who are similar to each other with regard to the combination of their main source of income over the years. 

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Statistics Sweden, Section for Coordination and Interdisciplinary Operations

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