1 The Labour Market Integration of Immigrants in Germany Key results of the OECD-Report Thomas Liebig Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs OECD, Paris 2 December 2005, Berlin

2 I. The framework for integration r Basic dates and figures r Integration structure II.Key issues r Immigrants r Second generation III. Recommendations Overview

3 Key dates I. Framework r : Important recruitment of guestworkers r Post-1973: Family reunification and the subsequent growth of the second generation r : Massive immigration of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe r : Large inflow of asylum seekers r 1996: Germany is not an immigration country r 2000: New Citizenship Law r 2005: New Immigration Act

4 I. Framework Annual inflows of ethnic Germans since 1985

5 I. Framework Inflows of asylum seekers into Germany, the European Union, and the traditional immigration countries since 1985

6 Evolution of the employment/population ratios of German nationals, foreigners, and Turkish nationals, men I. Framework

7 Evolution of the employment/population ratios of German nationals, foreigners, and Turkish nationals, women

8 Evolution of the employment/population ratios of foreigners, foreign-born, and ethnic Germans I. Framework

9 r Highly complex structure, with a multiplicity of governmental and non-governmental actors at all government levels l Large variety of local, time-limited and multiple-level funded projects l Strong focus on language training in Federal integration aid l Until 2005: Integration services differed between migrant groups l Some improvement with the new Immigration Act The framework for integration

10 I. Framework r No focus on preparation for labour market r Structure to be complemented with occupation- oriented and more advanced language courses, but only for registered unemployed r Experiences from Sweden: labour market training and especially early employment have greater impact on later employment than intensive language training The new integration programme

11 II. Key issues Language training Employment rates six months after completion of language courses are low and have been declining

12 II. Key issues Differences (in percentage points) between the employment-population ratios of native-born and immigrants, by years of presence in the host country, men, 2004 (Australia: 2003)

13 II. Key issues Differences (in percentage points) between the employment-population ratios of native-born and immigrants, by years of presence in the host country, women, 2004 (Australia: 2003)

14 II. Key issues Self-employment and work through temporary employment agencies r Self-employment l lower self-employment rates for immigrants than for natives, although self-employment rates of immigrants with Turkish nationality almost doubled since 1992 l about one third of all foreigners do not have automatic access to self- employment l immigrants more than twice as likely to found new enterprises as natives l lack of access to financial credits r Temporary employment agency work l in many countries (e.g. Sweden, France) springboard into more stable employment l provides work experience to migrants and allows employer to evaluate migrants skills l but immigrants are not a target group in Germanys programme for employment through temporary employment agencies (i.e. the PSAs)

15 Qualification structure Difference (in percentage points) in the share of persons with less than upper secondary education among the adult (25-64) population between immigrants and native-born, II. Key issues

16 Impact on the second generation Points differences in the PISA (2003) mathematics scores of natives and the second generation, children aged 15 years II. Key issues

17 Second generation II. Key issues r Strong influence of German language spoken at home on PISA results; appears to be linked with half-day nature of kindergarten and school r Participation in vocational training less than half of that of natives without migration background r Influence of a vocational degree on employment probability stronger for the second generation than for comparable natives without migration background r Low educational background may act as convenient screen for discriminatory attitudes among employers

18 General recommendations r Develop more statistics on the basis of country of birth r Language training needs to be better linked with employment r Consider a more outcome-based funding scheme for integration courses r Systematic evaluation of effective measures and subsequent mainstreaming of successful project experiences needed r Migrants should be included as special target group of programmes for employment through temporary employment agencies (such as the PSAs) r Improve migrants access to self-employment by better information and removal of remaining legal obstacles

19 Recommendations related to the second generation r Develop some statistics on parents country of birth r The German language needs to be systematically promoted from kindergarten age on or even earlier r Language testing in the year prior to elementary school, combined with intensive language training, should be provided on a broader basis r Given the fact of early screening, there is a need for better permeability between educational tracks r The second generations access to vocational training needs to be improved r Although discrimination is not perceived as a key problem, vigilance is warranted