Measuring adaptation with immigrants' subjective wellbeing: evidence from European countries

• Authors: Jan Brzozowski , Joanna Sikorska

Title variants

PL

Pomiar adaptacji imigrantów z wykorzystaniem subiektywnego dobrostanu na przykładzie krajów Europy

Abstracts

PL

Adaptacja społeczno-ekonomiczna imigrantów w Europie jest tematem, nad którym pochylają się zarówno eksperci, jak i decydenci polityczni. Tradycyjne podejście do pomiaru adaptacji cudzoziemców w kraju przyjmującym polegające na zastosowaniu takich wskaźników, jak zatrudnienie na pełny etat czy poziom dochodów uznaje się w literaturze przedmiotu za niewystarczające i zaleca się bardziej zróżnicowane i inkluzyjne podejście. Badanie omawiane w artykule odpowiada na to zapotrzebowanie, uwzględniając subiektywny dobrostan (ang. subjective wellbeing – SWB) jednostek, w tym ocenę satysfakcji z życia. Głównym celem badania jest empiryczna ocena adaptacji społeczno-ekonomicznej pierwszego pokolenia imigrantów oraz osób z pochodzeniem imigranckim (tj. mających co najmniej jednego rodzica imigranta) w krajach europejskich. Przeanalizowano determinanty SWB na podstawie danych z Europejskiego Sondażu Społecznego przeprowadzonego w 2018 r. w 29 krajach Europy na populacji w wieku powyżej 15 lat. Opracowano model uwzględniający przynależność do wyznania religijnego i stopień religijności badanych osób jako dodatkową miarę tożsamości kulturowej, a obecność na rynku pracy, wykształcenie, stan cywilny i niepełnosprawność jako zmienne kontrolne. Posłużono się metodą najmniejszych kwadratów, powszechnie stosowaną w takich analizach. Wyniki badania wskazują, że status imigranta w pierwszym pokoleniu nie wpływa bezpośrednio na SWB, czyli że poziom satysfakcji z życia osób urodzonych za granicą i członków lokalnej społeczności jest podobny. Natomiast istotna jest przynależność imigrantów do wyznania religijnego: najmniej zadowoleni z życia są muzułmanie, jednak satysfakcja z życia w tej grupie znacząco wzrasta w przypadku imigrantów w drugim pokoleniu, tj. osób mających co najmniej jednego rodzica urodzonego za granicą. Z badania wynika, że pokolenie muzułmanów urodzonych w europejskich krajach przyjmujących jest lepiej przystosowane do warunków społeczno-ekonomicznych niż pokolenie ich rodziców i niż muzułmanie bez rodowodu imigranckiego.

EN

The socio-economic adaptation of immigrants in Europe is the source of great concern both to experts and policy-makers. The literature on the subject regards the traditional approach to measuring the adaptation of foreigners to the host country, invloving the use of indicators such as full-time employment or income level, as insufficient, and advocates a more diversified and inclusive approach. Our study answers this call by taking into account the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of individuals (life satisfaction scores) while researching the socioeconomic adaptation of immigrants in Europe. The main aim of the study is to empirically assess the socio-economic adaptation of firstgeneration immigrants and persons with immigrant background (i.e. those who have at least one immigrant parent) in European states. To this end, we analyse the determinants of the SWB based on the data from the European Social Survey conducted in 2018 in 29 European countries on the population aged 15+. In our model, we use the religious affiliation and religiosity of individuals as an additional measure of cultural identity. We also take into account control variables such as labour market participation, education, marital status and disability. We apply Ordinary Least Squares regression, a method commonly used in analyses of this type. We find that the first-generation immigrant status does not impact directly on the SWB, i.e. the life satisfaction scores of foreign-born persons are similar to those of the local community. What has a more significant influence is the immigrnats’ religious affiliation: Muslims are the religious group dissatisfied with life to the largest extent. Yet, their life satisfaction increases considerably among the second-generation immigrants, i.e. persons who have at least one foreign-born parent. Therefore, our results confirm that the new generation of Muslims with immigrant background born in European host countries is better adapted to the socioeconomic conditions than their parents’ generation or native Muslims.

Keywords

EN

immigrants; adaptation; subjective wellbeing; immigrant background

PL

imigranci; adaptacja; subiektywny dobrostan; pochodzenie migranckie

• Publisher: Główny Urząd Statystyczny
• Journal: Wiadomości Statystyczne. The Polish Statistician
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 1-22

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Jan Brzozowski

• Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Wydział Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych, Instytut Studiów Europejskich / Jagiellonial University in Kraków, Faculty of International and Political Studies, Institute of European Studies

• https://orcid.org/0000000185173485

author

Joanna Sikorska

• Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie, Kolegium Ekonomii, Finansów i Prawa, Instytut Ekonomii / Krakow University of Economics, College of Economics, Finance, and Law, Institute of Economics

• https://orcid.org/0000000237401137

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Identifiers

DOI

10.59139/ws.2023.11.1

Biblioteka Nauki

28408301