Improved institutional settings promote employment

Abstract

Various institutional hurdles such as asylum procedures, employment bans and residency restrictions impair the labor market integration of refugees. These hurdles are prevalent particularly at the beginning of their stay, and are reduced over time, as shown by analyses based on the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees. Language and other integration programs also gradually facilitate integration into the labor market. This improved integration is reflected in the increase in the employment rate of refugees who arrived in 2015 to almost two thirds in 2022.