Measurement of the Socio-economic Conditions of Migrants : some comments Jean Christophe Dumont OECD, Head of International Migration Division, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs UNECE, Work session on Migration Statistics, Geneva, October 2012

Outline of the presentation 1. Key measurement issues 2. Value added of international comparisons 3. OECD approach to measuring integration in an international comparison 2

Measuring outcomes Identifying migrant groups and levels of observation Comparing immigrants: with whom? Measuring progress Making choices 1. Key measurement issues

Measuring outcomes 4 Eurostat General population characteristics Labour Labour market outcomes Education Early school leavers Educational attainment Social inclusion Median income Poverty Health status Overcrowding Active citizenship Acquisition of nationality Permanent and long-term residents Elected representatives OECD Contextual indicators Individual and household characteristics Labour Labour market outcomes Job characteristics Education Early childhood attendance Outcomes at the end of compulsary school Educational attainment of children of immigrants Income distribution and poverty Health status and access to health care Housing (physical and financial conditions) Civic engagement Acquisition of nationality Voting Discrimination UNECE Demography Individual and household characteristics Fertility, mixed marriages Residential mobility, housing Labour market (tbd) Education Access to training process of credential recognition Skill and job match Economic well-being (tbd) Health (tbd) Social characteristics (tbc) Sense of affiliation with the host country (+dual citizenship) Volunteering Participation in social and civic groups

Migrant groups and level of observation All migrants By specific country or region of origin By other individual characteristics

Comparing immigrants: with whom? Comparison between immigrant groups Immigrants’ specific features (origin, language proficiency, citizenship) Calculation of differences in rates between the different groups Comparison with a « reference » group « reference » group: Total population; Non-immigrants; Non-immigrants with same characteristics Calculation of differences (observed and assuming same socio-demographic structure) Comparison over time Data issues in measuring progress over time Differences in percentage points or in % (growth rate)

Measuring progress Progress in human and social capital (individual characteristics) vs. outcomes Relative vs. absolute Changes over time o in average outcomes o progress over time for specific cohorts (ie. by duration of stay) o along the life cycle

Making choices Availability of data Policy implications National vs. international perspective  No good/bad choices but different perspectives and constraints  Developing guidelines for measuring the integration of immigrants and their children

2. Value added of international comparisons Provide benchmarks for national performance. Show features that are not visible by looking at national data alone. Permit generalisations across countries. Help to focus on the right questions. 9

Providing benchmarks for national performance How well do immigrants as a group do in the labour market? Unemployment rates of immigrants compared with the native-born in selected OECD countries, 2009/10 (% points) Higherunemploymentrates than theones of thenative-bornpopulation Lowerunemploymentrates than theones of thenative-bornpopulation 10

Showing things that are not visible from national data alone How quick is the integration in the labour market? Employment rates over the first 10 years of residence % of the labour force Cohort

Permitting generalisations across countries: Persons living in foreign-born households are more at risk of living in poverty – The situation is generally worse for families with children Poverty rates of persons 15+ and children living in a foreign-born household Differences with the rates of persons/children living in a native-born household (% points) Higher poverty rates than theones ofpersons/childrenin a native-bornhousehold Lower poverty rates than theones ofpersons/childrenin a native-bornhousehold 12

Helping to focus on the right questions: There is as much concentration of children of immigrants in the settlement countries as in Europe… Australia, Canada, New Zealand Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden The distribution of pupils in schools with different concentrations of children of immigrants 13

Helping to focus on the right questions: …but is immigrant concentration in schools necessarily related to good results? Differences in PISA scores by immigrant concentration,

3. OECD approach to the indicators of integration Focus on the foreign-born and their children Compare with natives and their children Account for the integration context and disaggregate by country of origin Adjust for differences in socio-economic characteristics Monitor progresses Of immigrant populations over time Following arrival Intergenerational (outcomes of offspring of immigrants as a benchmark for integration) 15