Employment Rates of Return Migrants: The Finnish Case

Abstract

Abstract. During the second half of the 20th century half a million Finns migrated, mainly to Sweden. A majority of these also returned to Finland. This paper utilises Finnish longitudinal population registers in order to identify the return migrants and analyse their employment rates as compared with non-migrants. We find that both male and female return migrants have odds of employment that are only about half those of non-migrants, also when factors such as age, education, mother tongue and place of residence are accounted for. Even within highereducated people, return migrants are in a worse employment position than observably similar non-migrants. The employment rates tend to deteriorate with migration duration and improve with time subsequent to return migration. This suggests that there could be an effect of lost contact with the home country labour market when being abroad, which may override any premium that accrues through human capital of foreign work experience or other practices gained abroad. Also return migrants with short stays abroad and long periods at home are in a poor relative position, however. Our findings therefore illustrate that the return migrants are highly selected on some latent personal characteristics that have detrimental effects for the job finding probability, and that this non-negligible group in the labour market should be given more policy attention.

Does International Migration Pay Off? The Labor Market Situation of Finnish Return Migrants Based on Longitudinal Register Data

“…In light of these data, and contrary to the findings based on earlier migrant generations (Saarela & Finnäs, 2009a, 2009b, international migration does not deteriorate the returnees' labor market status. As this article demonstrates, migrants who leave Finland move to a wider variety of countries and are younger, more educated, and have a better socio-economic status than before.…”

“…There were also notable differences in the unemployment rates prior to moving abroad: the rate of both mobile groups is lower than the rate of their respective cohorts. Contrary to the findings based on previous migrant generations returning mostly from Sweden (Saarela & Finnäs, 2009a, 2009b, the labor market situation of our two groups was better than what the situation of the whole cohort was after the mobile individuals returned to Finland. Our data suggest a rising trend in the numbers of Finns using mobility as a labor market transition and as a way of adapting to the existing labor market conditions.…”

“…But what about after returning to Finland: is there a payoff in gaining international experience? Or is living and working abroad rather a risk when they return to Finland, as was the case for earlier migrant generations (Saarela & Finnäs, 2009a, 2009b? And again, how do the two groups compare with the whole cohort, of which the vast majority stayed behind in Finland?…”

Takaisin Suomeen: mitä kohorttiaineisto voi kertoa paluumuuttajien työmarkkina-asemista?

“…Väestötieteilijät Jan Saarela ja Fjalar Finnäs (2007, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, ks. myös Saarela 2015 ovat tutkineet suomalaisten muuttamista Tilastokeskuksen rekisteriaineiston pohjalta.…”

“…Heidän aineistonsa antaa tilastollisesti edustavaan aineistoon pohjautuvan kuvan paluumuuttajien työmarkkinatilanteista 1990-luvulla ja on siten hyvä vertailukohta tämän katsauksen aineistolle. Saarela ja Finnäs (2009a, 2009b tarkastelevat vuonna 1995 palanneita suomalaisia, kun taas käsillä olevan tutkimuksen paluumuuttajat suuntaavat Suomeen vasta kymmenen vuotta myöhemmin. Tällä ajankohtaerolla on merkitystä ainakin kahdesta syystä.…”