SOEP Research: Migration and Integration

Proximity to Refugee Accommodations Does not Affect Locals’ Attitudes toward Refugees: Evidence from Germany

With the so-called 'long summer of migration' of 2015, there was an urgent need to accommodate many refugees in Germany. This situation was framed as a 'refugee reception crisis', and it revealed diametrically opposed stances within German society. Within this debate, anti-refugee sentiment is often explained with the placement of nearby refugee reception facilities. Conclusive evidence of this claim ...

Housing and Health: A Multidimensional, Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Asylum Seekers and Refugees Living in German Reception Centres

Objectives Housing is an important social determinant of health, but the perspectives of asylum seekers and refugees (ASR) in large, centralised reception centres remain under-researched. We therefore sought to examine which housing aspects in reception centres are deemed relevant for health by ASR in Germany.MethodsBased on 47 interviews with 42 ASR in Germany originating from three different studies, ...

Restricted healthcare puts a strain on refugees and society

Establishing a Probability Sample in a Crisis Context: The Example of Ukrainian Refugees in Germany in 2022

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, more than one million refugees have arrived in Germany. These Ukrainian refugees differ in many aspects from Germany’s past forced migration experiences and there exists an urgent need for sound data and information for politics, practitioners, and academics. In response, the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP study was established to provide high-quality ...

Effect of Area-Level Socioeconomic Deprivation on Mental and Physical Health: A Longitudinal Natural Experiment among Refugees in Germany

Existing studies on contextual health effects struggle to account for compositional bias, limiting causal interpretation. We use refugee dispersal in Germany as a natural experiment to study the effect of area-level socioeconomic deprivation on mental and physical health, while considering the potential mediating role of neighbourhood characteristics. Refugees subject to dispersal (n = 1466) are selected ...

Utilisation of Dental Services by Refugees in Germany: Results of the Population-Based RESPOND Survey

Background: The utilisation of outpatient dental services is an important indicator for monitoring healthcare provision in Germany. In the general population, the 12-month prevalence of dental service utilization is 82.2%. For refugees, this indicator has hardly been measured, although studies suggest an objectively high need for dental care. Methodology: As part of the population-based cross-sectional ...

Is the First Language a Resource, an Obstacle, or Irrelevant for Language Minority Students’ Education?

Successful integration into the education system is of major importance for the future prospects of immigrants and their children as well as for the social cohesion and viability of the receiving societies. Language is generally viewed as an important aspect of this integration. Whereas there is widespread agreement that the language of the residence country (L2) is crucial for students’ educational ...

Migration and native health: new evidence from employer-employee data

This paper evaluates the effects of immigration on health in the workplace. Using rich linked employer-employee data, I demonstrate that firms with a higher concentration of foreign workers experience lower rates of long-term sick leave among native employees. The effect on the total sick rate is smaller in magnitude. The results are consistent with foreign employment alleviating understaffing and...

Local far-right demonstrations and nationwide public attitudes

One of the primary objectives of protests and demonstrations is to bring social, political, or economic issues to the attention of politicians and the wider population. While protests can have a mobilizing and persuading effect, they may reduce support for their cause if turned disruptive or disorganised. In this study, we look at how local or spontaneously organized far-right and xenophobic...

CANCELED: Ethnic segregation in a stratified school system: Does ability tracking hamper ‘white flight’ from local schools?

Research on parental school choice provides strong evidence of so-called ‘white flight’ – that ethnic majority parents avoid choosing a local school if it contains large numbers of ethnic minority students. In this study, we examine such segregating choices in a formally stratified school system. Theoretically, we argue that segregating choices are less common in an educational setting where...