Immigrants’ Social Rights across Welfare States

Abstract

Chapter 6 moves beyond formal rights to substantive social rights, and it provides a systematic comparison of immigrants' social rights across the six countries, using the Luxembourg Income Study Database (LIS). It compares the substantive social rights of immigrants (foreign born) and native citizens. Substantive rights are operationalized as participation in transfer programs and receipt of benefits. The analysis reveals a stratification in the social rights of immigrants and native citizens across welfare states, with the widest differences between the rights of native citizens in relation to noncitizens and ethnic minority immigrants. However, the analysis also confirms the importance of the type of welfare regime for immigrants' substantive rights. The welfare state policies of the social democratic regime countries are more effective in poverty reduction for both citizens and immigrants than those of the other regime countries.