Differences in welfare take-up between immigrants and natives – a microsimulation study

Abstract

Research on welfare participation often shows significant differences between immigrants and natives that are often attributed to immigrants' higher risk of welfare dependence. We study whether immigrants in Germany also differ from their German counterparts in their take-up behavior conditional on being eligible for welfare benefits. The empirical approach intends (i) to determine eligibility for welfare benefits for a representative sample of the whole population of Germany using a microsimulation model (IAB-STSM) based on data from the German SocioEconomic Panel (GSOEP) and then (ii) to estimate probit models of observed welfare benefit take-up for the sample of eligible households. Our simulation results show that non take-up rates do not differ significantly between several groups of immigrants and natives. Additionally, the probit estimations do not reveal a significant effect of being a migrant on the probability to take up entitlements. Hence, our findings suggest that after controlling for observed and unobserved household characteristics immigrants are not more prone to take up welfare benefits. Zusammenfassung Eine Vielzahl von Studien kommt zum Ergebnis, dass Migranten anteilig deutlich häufiger Sozialleistungen beziehen als Einheimische, was häufig damit erklärt wird, dass Einwanderer ein höheres Risiko aufweisen, bedürftig zu sein. Wir untersuchen in diesem Papier, ob Migranten und Einheimische, die einen grundsätzlichen Anspruch auf Leistungen der Grundsicherung aufweisen, diesen Anspruch in unterschiedlichem Maße realisieren. Unser empirischer Ansatz besteht darin, (i) den Anspruch auf Leistungen der Grundsicherung mit Hilfe eines Mikrosimulationsmodells (IAB-STSM) zu simulieren. Datenbasis des Modells ist das Sozio-oekonomische Panel (SOEP). Auf der Anspruchssimulation aufbauend, (ii) schätzen wir Probit-Modelle des beobachteten Leistungsbezugs für die Gruppe der als anspruchsberechtigt simulierten Haushalte. Unsere Simulationsergebnisse zeigen, dass sich die Quoten der Nicht-Inanspruchnahme nicht signifikant zwischen Migranten und Einheimischen unterscheiden. Darüber hinaus ist das Ergebnis unserer Probit-Modelle, dass auch unter Kontrolle beobachteter und unbeobachteter Haushaltscharakteristika kein Unterschied im Inanspruchnahmeverhalten zwischen Migranten und Einheimischen beobachtet werden kann.

Open for the childless skilled only: the poverty risks of migrant workers with children under the UK points-based immigration system

“…This exclusion of new migrants from the UK's parental social contract and consequent contravention of the rights of their children is despite overwhelming evidence collected before Brexit, suggesting EU migrants fulfilled its terms of reciprocity and conditionality; they made a net contribution to the UK economy (for example, Dustmann et al, 2010;Dustmann and Frattini, 2014;Vargas-Silva, 2015;Oxford Economics, 2018: 5-6;2020: 6); EU residents used welfare benefits less or no more than non-migrant citizens (Bratsberg et al, 2014;4 Bruzelius et al, 2015;Sumption and Allen, 2015;Bruckmeier and Wiemers 2017;Oxford Economics, 2018: 5) and no evidence has been found that welfare receipt of migrants in general is heavier compared to non-migrants (Barrett and Maitre 2013;Bruckmeier and Wiemers, 2017).…”

Migrants and social policy: shifting research agendas

“…Concerns about migrants' welfare usage are therefore widespread. Research has extensively studied the extent to which migrants make more use of welfare resources than natives (Brücker et al, 2002;Bruckmeier & Wiemers, 2017;Kornstad & Skjerpen, 2018;Roman, 2019;Yilmaz, 2019;Jakubiak, 2020).…”

Depoliticizing integration through statistical indicators

“…In the same way, the indicators of integration do not allow for measuring the nontake-up of welfare benefits by immigrants (Bruckmeier and Wiemers 2017). In fact, they include the indicators concerning the social aid rate and rate of assistance, but they do not include indicators measuring the difference between the non-take-up rate of social aid of immigrants and that of citizens.…”