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The poverty risk of migrants
The measurement of migrant status used here is based on country of birth. Among people aged 18 or over, migrants are those who were born outside their present country of residence, and a distinction is drawn between those born inside and outside the EU.[1]
Children aged under 18 and living with their parents are defined as migrants if both parents were born outside the country of residence. Those under 18 and living alone are treated in the same way as if they were 18 or over.[2]
The data on migrants, of course, only partially covers ethnic minorities. Thus certain groups that tend to be marginalised in society, in particular the Roma, remain hidden.[3]
Migrants tend to face a higher risk of poverty (defined conventionally as having income below 60% of the median) than do others (predominantly people born locally, in the country of residence). While the at-risk-of-poverty rate of the local population varies from 8% to 25%, and that of migrants whose origins are in the EU ranges from 7% to 33%, migrants with a non-EU origin can face at-risk-of-poverty rates of up to 47% (Finland and Belgium). The at-risk-of-poverty rate within the non-EU migrant group exceeds 30% in a number of countries, including Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Latvia, France, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Finland and Belgium (Figure 22).
The situation of EU migrants tends to be more favourable than that of migrants from outside the EU. Exceptions are for the Czech Republic and Hungary, where the share of these migrant groups is very small (EU migrants: 1-3%, non-EU migrants: less than 1%). Interestingly, migrants fare no worse than the local population in Hungary.
Figure 22: At-risk-of-poverty rate
among migrants, by region of origin, 2008 income year
EU migrants tend to live alone more frequently than the locally born population. There are relatively more non-EU migrant families with three or more children or 'atypical' household formations with children (Figure 23). There is a particular pattern with respect to children: EU migrants are more likely to be without children (51%) than are non-EU migrants (44%). This may reflect the greater mobility of childless households within the EU. The most typical pattern of household formation among EU migrants is a two-adult household, where both adults are of working age, while among non-EU migrants and the local population the most typical formation is the two-adult two-children household. The share of households with three or more children (10%) is larger among non-EU migrants than among EU migrants (5%) or the local population (7%).
Figure 23: Household structure of the migrant population, by region of origin, 2009
The employment rate (based on self-declared economic status among those of working age) of non-EU migrants tends to be lower than that of the local population in most countries (the difference being particularly wide in Germany and Poland) (see Table 9). In 12 of the 27 countries, however, non-EU migrants have higher employment levels than the local population. This is especially true of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal. This highlights the importance of the type of job that migrants tend to do and the kind of employment they have, as factors underlying their tendency to be more at risk of poverty than others in the community.[4]
The share of employed people among EU migrants is, in a number of cases, smaller than among non-EU migrants. On the other hand, the share of EU migrants who are inactive is often larger than the share of inactive non-EU migrants and the local population. This pattern is particularly pronounced in Sweden and in some of the EU10 countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania).
[1] The number of observations for migrants born in another EU country is zero in Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia, as in the Users' Database they were grouped into 'any other country', so estimates referring to 'non-EU' groups include EU migrants as well.
[2] Note that this definition of migrants includes those who have acquired citizenship since moving to the country. Such people vary markedly in number across the EU because of the different rules and requirements that govern the acquisition of citizenship in different countries. These differences are the reason for identifying migrants in terms of country of birth rather than citizenship (which is often the criterion). The issues of measurement, together with an analysis of the groups based on the two alternative definitions, are discussed in more detail in Lelkes and Zolyomi (2008).
[3] On this issue, see Platt (2007) and Bernat (2007).
[4] See Ward et al. (2009) chapter 3 for an analysis of the EU Labour Force Survey.
