The role of labour market integration, language proficiency and inter-ethnic contacts in shaping life satisfaction among immigrants in the Netherlands

Abstract

Studies show relatively low life satisfaction among immigrants and ethnic minorities. At the same time, it was found that subjective well-being plays an important role in the process of social integration of immigrants. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the meditative role of integration in the labor market and inter-ethnic contacts in the relationship between language proficiency and life satisfaction among the first and second generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands. Based on data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (NELLS), an analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that despite the fact that language acquisition does not have a direct effect on increasing life satisfaction among immigrants, it does have a positive effect through increasing labor integration and contacts with members of the ethnic majority.