SOEP Research: Migration and Integration

Post-Migration Stress Mediates Associations Between Potentially Traumatic Peri-Migration Experiences and Mental Health Among Middle Eastern Refugees in Germany

Background On their way to host countries, refugees are often exposed to severe adversity, including cumulative experiences of fraud, extortion, robbery, detention, and shipwrecks, as well as prolonged, life-threatening small boat crossings. However, little research has examined the long-term impact of such peri-migration stressors on subsequent stress and mental health after arrival. This study explored ...

Refugees Are Feeling Increasingly Unwelcome and Perceiving Discrimination in the Labor and Housing Markets

The sentiment among refugees in Germany has changed significantly: Using Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data from 2016 to 2023, it can be seen that refugees have been feeling increasingly unwelcome since 2018, while their concerns about xenophobia have grown since 2019. In addition, cross-sectional data from 2022 refugees’ subjective experiences of discrimination in the workplace and when searching for ...

Refugees are feeling increasingly unwelcome and becoming more concerned about xenophobia

Asylum Seekers and Host Country Mental Health: Evidence from Germany and Switzerland

Due to recent conflicts and humanitarian issues, millions of people have sought asylum in countries in Europe. The influx of asylum seekers has sparked debates about the impacts of such migratory flows on resident populations. We study how the recent migration of these forcibly displaced people into Europe affects the mental health of the receiving country residents in Switzerland and Germany. We exploit ...

Living Conditions and Participation of Ukrainian Refugees in Germany:: Findings from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees ; Research Report 51

Primary Healthcare Models for Refugees Involving Nurses: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis

Introduction Primary healthcare (PHC) is key to addressing the health and social needs of refugees. Nurses are often part of multidisciplinary teams in PHC, but little is known about their roles and responsibilities in refugee healthcare. We aimed to synthesise the existing knowledge about models of care (MoC) for refugees in primary care settings which involve nursing professionals.Methods Systematic ...

Geographic Labor Mobility and Statutory Minimum Wages

I exploit the German statutory minimum wage introduction in 2015 to estimate its effects on geographic labor mobility using a 2% sample of administrative data. I find an increase in out-migration due to the minimum wage of low-skilled workers with migrant background from counties where a high-share of workers is subject to the minimum wage to urban labor market regions. The increase in out...

Health System Resilience in the Context of Forced Migration: A Qualitative Framework Analysis of Germany’s Crisis Responses in 2015 and 2020

BackgroundHealth system resilience, the ability of a health system to maintain its functions under stress, has received increasing attention in recent years. Shortcomings in health system resilience are often most visible in the most vulnerable settings, including the care for asylum seekers and refugees. We therefore examined how the German health system responded to challenges and uncertainties during ...

Immigration, Segregation, and Attitudes Toward Immigrants: A Longitudinal Multiscalar Analysis across Egohoods

Evidence on how proximity to ethnic outgroups shapes attitudes toward immigration remains inconclusive. We suggest this may be driven, in part, by the fact that studies rarely account for the role of residential segregation. We argue that how the minority-share in an environment affects majority-group attitudes will depend on how segregated groups are from one another. To explore this, we undertake ...

Why Do Migrants Stay Unexpectedly? Misperceptions and Implications for Integration

Empirical evidence suggests that the majority of immigrants who initially planned a temporary stay end up staying permanently in the host country. Since beliefs about the duration of stay are a strong determinant of integration, many long-term migrants may end up less than optimally integrated. We theoretically model migrants with potential misperceptions about their future utility and wage prospects ...