Sunday, March 16, 2014
Embassy (Omni Shoreham)
In almost all European welfare states, migrants face a higher risk of poverty than natives, but the difference varies between countries. This paper examines the reasons for this variation across sixteen West European states in a fuzzy-set analysis (fsQCA). In the literature two conflicting hypotheses prevail. Some scholars suggest immigrants are excluded from effective social protection, others point to institutional disincentives preventing the economic integration of immigrants. We are able to shed light on these rival theories by choosing a method that allows for equifinality and conjunctural causation. In particular, we examine how welfare state generosity, welfare state inclusiveness, immigrant integration policies, and immigrant employment levels interact in determining migrant poverty. The findings show that in many countries, especially in Continental Europe, exclusion from social protection is the main obstacle for immigrants. By contrast the disincentive effects of social and integration policy play a role in Nordic states. Policies preventing higher poverty levels among immigrants combine lean social protection with liberal integration policy, as can be found in parts of Southern Europe as well as the United Kingdom.
