Abstract
Most EaP migrants in Spain come from Ukraine, followed by, to a much lesser extent, Moldavia, Armenia, and Georgia. Relative to other migrants, they are those who most recently arrived to Spain. Using data from Spanish Labor Force Survey (LFS) from the years 2000 to 2011, this paper analyzes how their employment situation evolves with time in Spain, the type of sectors they work in, and their welfare use, including unemployment insurance receipt. We find that the employment rate of EaP migrants is similar to that of the natives. This is because although they face an employment penalty upon arrival, they catch up quickly. In addition, we document that EaP migrants, despite their higher educational level, are less likely to work than natives and other migrant groups upon arrival to Spain. However, the initial disadvantage in terms of employment and working conditions dissipates over time. We also find that their use of welfare increases with experience in the country. J61; J15
Highlights
Over the last decade, Spain has experienced many changes
While much is known on how migrants from Africa, Eastern Europe and South America assimilate in Spain, there is no evidence on the experience of migrants from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (i.e. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine
Migrants’ socio-demographic characteristics and compare them to those of natives and other immigrants; (iii) evaluate the impact of migration from EaP countries on the Spanish labor market and welfare state; and (iv) identify mechanisms to deal with the skill shortages and present migration policies to deal with migrant labor market matching
Summary
Spain has experienced many changes. It has gone from being one of the most dynamic European economies, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.4 percent, to experiencing a major reverse after the international financial crisis of 2007, which burst the Spanish real-state bubble and soared unemployment rate to 24 per cent – the highest level among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Migrants’ socio-demographic characteristics and compare them to those of natives and other immigrants; (iii) evaluate the impact of migration from EaP countries on the Spanish labor market and welfare state; and (iv) identify mechanisms to deal with the skill shortages and present migration policies to deal with migrant labor market matching. A common finding in Spain is that immigrants are much more likely to be over-educated than similar natives (Fernández and Ortega 2008; Alcobendas and Rodríguez-Planas 2009). Other than studies by the two authors of this paper: Farré and Rodriguez-Planas, we refer to work by Sara de la Rica, Libertad González, Juan Francisco Jimeno, Francesc Ortega, among others
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