Religion and new immigrants' labor market entry in Western Europe

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of religious participation upon a major socio-economic integration outcome, namely employment, among recent Christian and Muslim newcomers in three Western European destination countries: Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. The paper revisits theoretical arguments about religious participation as an ethnic investment strategy or, alternatively, as a bridge to the societal mainstream. Drawing on the longitudinal dataset produced in the international survey project on 'Socio-cultural Integration Processes among New Immigrants in Europe' (SCIP), the paper puts these arguments to a rigorous test by analyzing effects of involvement in religious communities on employment and by scrutinizing channeling effects of the ethnic composition of religious congregations for recent migrants' entry into mainstream versus ethnic niche economies. The paper finds only limited support for either of the two arguments, suggesting that religious participation is structurally decoupled from socio-economic integration. However, persisting net employment gaps between recent Christian and Muslim immigrants might indicate the existence of religiously marked and socio-economically consequential boundaries in Western Europe.

Religion and integration among immigrant and minority youth

“…Quantitative studies looking at the effects of religious affiliation, attendance and religiosity on core structural integration outcomes such as educational achievement, employment, earnings, or occupational attainment deliver inconclusive results as well (Berthoud 2000;Lindley 2002;Model and Lin 2002;Wuthnow and Hackett 2003;Beyer 2005;Portes and Rumbaut 2006;Khattab 2009;Aleksynska and Algan 2010;Bisin et al 2011;Connor 2011;Jamil 2012;Koenig, Maliepaard, and Güveli 2016;Koopmans 2016). Still, one consistent finding across studies using various data sources is the presence of a Muslim employment 'penalty' (Berthoud andBlekesaune 2007 Clark andDrinkwater 2009;Khattab et al 2011;Heath and Martin 2013;Cheung 2014 for the UK; Adida, Laitin, and Valfort 2010 for France; Connor and Koenig 2015 for Europe).…”

“…Symbolic boundaries are more likely to be activated when economic considerations are unfavourable, and might become additional barriers to structural integration (Wimmer 2009). 'Bright' symbolic boundaries along religious lines, coupled with signals of religious belonging and active religious practices, might be particularly detrimental to socioeconomic attainment as they serve as strong signals of minority membership and may thus trigger mechanisms of social closure (Koenig, Maliepaard, and Güveli 2016).…”

Delinquency among majority and minority youths in Cologne, Mannheim and Brussels: the role of religion

“…Individuals who perceive themselves or their group to be discriminated against are more likely to become delinquent (see Burt, Simons, and Gibbons 2012). Muslim minorities are more likely to be exposed to exclusion because their group placement is towards the bottom of natives' ethnic hierarchies (Sniderman and Hagendoorn 2007) and they encounter greater difficulties accessing the labour market (König, Maliepaard, and Güveli 2016). This perception of exclusion may then reinforce the 'reactive ethnicity' among minorities (Portes and Rumbaut 2006, 96)a preservation of different symbolic markers in order to maintain a social identity (in this case a religious identity).…”

Attitudes toward Abortion for Medical and Non-medical Reasons among the Turkish Second Generation in Europe – The Role of the Family and Societal Contexts

“…The fi ndings on the demographic behaviour and the processes of structural and cultural integration among Turks in Europe are confl icting. Like other Muslim minorities, Turks lag behind in their socio-economic integration (Koenig et al 2016) are more likely to be religious (e.g. Diehl/Koenig 2009; Jacob/Kalter 2013), and experience more discrimination than other migrant groups (Weichselbaumer 2016).…”