OECD work on the integration of immigrants and their children

How does Italy compare?

Cécile ThoreauInternational Migration Division

Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD

Work by the International Migration Division on the integration of immigrants and their children

2

Country reviews on labour market integration for 12 OECD countries (« Jobs for immigrants »; Vol. 1-3)

Indicators of integration (Settling In: OECD Indicators of Immigrant integration)

Continuous monitoring in the International Migration Outlook

Cross-cutting thematic work on specific issues, e.g. • Children of immigrants

• Immigrants’ skills and qualifications

• Discrimination; naturalisation; entrepreneurship.

Objectives of the OECD publication on indicators of integration

Provide a set of contextual indicators as a support to the analysis of each indicator

Disentangle as much as possible the influence of demographic and educational characteristics on outcomes

Analyse progress over time

Measure also outcomes of offspring of immigrants (Benchmark for integration)

Content of the OECD publication on indicators of integration

Focus on the foreign-born and their children

21 indicators in seven central integration areas

Rich context information on the characteristics of the immigrant population for all 34 OECD countries, to account for the different composition of immigrant populations

Comprehensive documentation and analysis on the basis of prior OECD work on integration

Country notes and an interactive tool online to compare countries:www.oecd.org/migration/integrationindicators.htm

5

Overall, in international comparisons, immigrant labour market outcomes are not unfavourable in Italy…

Employment rates by gender and place of birth in selected OECD countries, 2011-2012

Luxe

mbourg

Hunga

ryIta

ly

Czech

Repub

lic

Portug

al

Irelan

d

United

Kingdo

mGree

ce

German

yFran

ceAus

triaSpa

in

Belgium

Sweden

Netherl

ands

Denmark

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Difference with native-born men Difference with native-born women

Immigrants are more likely to be employed

Immigrants are less likely to be employed

% points

… but the positive gap is partly driven by the age composition of the immigrant population…

6

The share of low-educated is particularly high among the working-age population but also among young migrants

Greece ItalySpain

DenmarkPortugal

NetherlandsFrance

BelgiumGermany

United Kingdom-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

6015-34 Foreign-born ISCED 0-2 15-34 Difference with the native-born ISCED 0-2

Percentage of 15-34 low-educated migrants, 2011Levels and differences with the native-born

Note: Persons still in education are counted separately. ISCED 0-2 refers to a level of education at best equivalent to lower secondary.Source: Eurostat 2011 Labour Force Survey.

Comparable share of low-educated among the 15-64 (43.5%) - (35.9% in these selected European countries).

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In all countries (and Italy is no exception), the highly educated immigrants are less likely to be employed than their native-born counterparts

Difference in employment rate of foreign- and native-born persons 15 to 64, 2009-10

Sweden

Estonia

Belgium

Netherl

ands

Norway

Denmark

New Zea

landFran

ce

Austral

iaIsr

ael

Canad

aIre

land

Finland

Icelan

d

German

yAust

ria

OECD avera

geSpa

in

Czech R

epub

lic

Portug

al

Sloven

ia

United K

ingdo

m

Switzerla

nd Italy

Greece

Hunga

ry

United S

tates

Luxem

bourg

-20

-10

0

10

20

Low educated Highly educated

Note: excluding persons still in education.Source: Settling in, OECD 2012.

8

Immigrants are strongly over-represented in low-skilled jobs

Share of immigrants in low-skilled jobs, by gender, 2009-10

AustraliaIrelandUnited StatesPolandSwedenHungaryCanadaNorwayUnited KingdomCzech RepublicSlovak RepublicDenmarkSwitzerlandFinlandNetherlandsLuxembourgOECD averageBelgiumEstoniaIcelandGermanyPortugalSloveniaFranceAustriaSpainItalyGreece

0510152025

Native-born

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Men WomenForeign-born

Source: Settling in, OECD 2012.

• Half of the highly educated employed immigrants are overqualified in their jobs.• Migrants who obtained their diploma abroad as well as those born outside the

OECD zone are the most affected by overqualification.

9

… and in some specific sectors

Industry segregation by gender, 2008 and 2012

Source: Settling in, OECD 2012.Source: International Migration Outlook, OECD, 2013.

10

The economic crisis has particularly affected immigrant men labour market outcomes

Immigrant and native-born employment rates by gender, 2001-2012

Source: International Migration Outlook, OECD, 2013.

11

Marked decline in North Africans labour market outcomes

Immigrant and native-born employment rates by region of origin, 2007-2012, Italy

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201240

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

EU15 + EFTA Bulgaria and Romania other Europe

North Africa Asia Native-born

%

Source: Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, ISTAT.

12

Other findings from Settling in: OECD Indicators of Immigrant Integration

• 17.8% of immigrants are at risk of poverty in Italy (same rate in the OECD on average) but children living in an immigrant household are much more at risk to live in poverty than their native peers.

• Low home ownership rate and bad housing conditions are only partly explained by age of the household head and level of income.

• The share of immigrant self employed is high in international comparison but low in the national context. The share slightly increases with the duration of stay.

• The share of nationals among the foreign-born population (excluding nationals at birth) is low in international comparison.

• Among immigrants born outside the OECD zone, highly educated immigrants are twice as likely to be naturalised than their low educated peers.

13

Most children of immigrants are born abroad

Immigrants and native-born offspring of immigrants aged 15 to 34, 2008Percentage of the population 15-34

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l*Lu

xem

bour

gEs

toni

aAus

tralia

Cana

daSw

itzer

land

Fran

ceNet

herla

nds

Belgi

umGer

man

ySlo

veni

aUni

ted

Stat

esOEC

D aver

age

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

mAus

tria

Swed

enDen

mar

kNor

wayPo

rtuga

lIre

land

Czec

h Re

publ

icGre

ece

Spain Italy

Hunga

ryPo

land

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

ImmigrantsNative-born offspring of immigrants

%

Source: Settling in: OECD Indicators of Immigrant Integration, OECD.

…and their share among young adults is growing

14

High probability of having poor reading skills at the age of 15 and high penalty for arriving at old ages

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Immigrant students who arrived between 6 and 12 Immigrant students who arrived after 12

Difference in PISA 2009 reading scores with immigrant students who arrived before 6, after accounting for socio-economic background

More than a quarter of minor children arrive after the age of 11

Note: Students aged around 15 in 2009.Source: PISA 2009, OECD.

15

High proportion of immigrant students not speaking Italian at home and a high penalty for those who do not

Difference in reading scores between native students and students with an immigrant background who speak a language at home that is different from the language of

assessment, after accounting for socio-economic background

Note: Students aged around 15 in 2009.Source: PISA 2009, OECD.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

31

4839

50

69

2933

50 56

-30

62

26

344041

27

55

46

3420

-10

35

% speaking another language at home

Difference in points

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Differences in distribution by type of schools explain part of differences in mean reading scores

2009 PISA reading scores and percentage of students by type of schools and immigrant status

High-school Technical insti-tute

Vocational insti-tute

Lower sec-ondary school

Vocational train-ing course (re-

gional pro-grammes)

0

100

200

300

400

500

0

10

20

30

40

50

Scores Scores % distribution (right-hand scale)% distribution (right-hand scale)

Scores %

Offspring of native-born: Immigrant students:

Note: Students aged around 15 in 2009.Source: PISA 2009, OECD.

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Difficult transition to work for youngsters with a foreign background, especially for those arrived at a late age

NEET rates by place of birth in selected OECD countries, 2008, 2011 and 2012 Percentage of the 15-24 population who is neither in employment, nor in education or training

Source: International Migration Outlook, OECD, 2013.

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Summary of findings

• Labour market outcomes are still relatively good, but limited professional mobility of migrants raises concerns.

• Immigrant workers have been hardly hit by the crisis, in particular men and North Africans.

• Employability, in particular of low-educated migrants, is a key issue.• Immigrant housing conditions are unfavourable, unconditional on

their level of income and this raises issues in terms of access to credit and access to information on the renting system.

• Many children of immigrants arrive at old age and this is associated with low educational and labour market outcomes.

• Low educational outcomes of offspring of immigrants require special policy attention.

Thank you for your attention!

For further information on the OECD’s work on integration:

www.oecd.org/migration