Social assistance among immigrants and natives in Sweden

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the issue of social assistance receipt among immigrants to Sweden and compare to receipt by natives.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the institutional background, reports statistical information and surveys the literature on the immigrant‐native disparity in social assistance receipt.FindingsMost out‐payment for social assistance in Sweden refers to foreign‐born persons, a category comprising 14 percent of the population. Immigrants tend to assimilate out of social assistance receipt. However, receipt continues to be higher many years after immigration among immigrants from non‐rich countries than for natives with several identical characteristics. The elevated probabilities of social assistance receipt among immigrants from non‐rich countries are interpreted to be mainly due to failed integration into the labor market at the destination.Practical implicationsPolicies for integrating immigrants into the labor market are also policies for reducing social assistance receipt among immigrants and reducing immigrant‐native social assistance disparity. However, other factors such as the structure of Swedish welfare policy play a role as well.Originality/valueThis is the first survey of the literature on disparities in social assistance receipt between immigrants and natives in Sweden.