Dynamic Flows on Unequal Labour Markets:

Immigrant Careers in Swedish Metropolitan Regions

Charlotta Hedberg,Department of Human Geography

Stockholm UniversityLiverpool 19-21 June 2006

Starting points

• ”Spatial pockets of entrenched joblessness” (Martin and Morrison 2003: 6)

• Economic integration in Sweden– Foreign born: employment rate 61,5 % (2004)– Area based policy: distressed

neighbourhoods

• Static picture of immigrant employment

Objectives

• How is immigrant employent actually shaped?– What patterns of entrance, continuity and exit on the labour can

be found?

• To study immigrant labour markets from a dynamic perspective– How is the labour market constituted?

• How to think about labour mobility and population geography?

• How to use longitudinal datasets?– Findlay (2003: 185): ”New data sources have provided excellent

opportunities for innovative modelling work and theorisations of populations in space and time”.

Preliminary aim and research questions

• The project aims to describe and explain patterns of labour mobility for individuals with immigrant background: – What is the “speed” of finding a (first) job?– What is the stability of jobs?– From which livelihood positions (unemployment, education,

social allowance, etc.) do individuals enter the labour market?– How is the labour market constructed for various social

categories?• Groups of focus: immigrant background, young cohort, gender• Group of reference: county region (Stockholm/Malmö)

– Why..?

Conceptualising the labour market

• Population mobility as a constituent of the labour market”Local labour markets are not exogenous, pre-given entities […] within which various

labour processes take place. Rather, they are highly endogeneous in nature, being actively and continously constructed through the very processes that take place within them” (Martin and Morrison 2003:8).

• Dynamic space (Massey 1999) - dynamic labour markets (Peck 1989; Hanson and Pratt 1992) – Social actors and spatially situated– Embedded networks (Granovetter 1985; Peck 2005)

• Segmented labour markets (Peck 1989; Morrison 1990)– Discrimination

• Time geography (Hägerstrand 1975) – Individual life biograhpies within ”fields of prevailing distributional forces” – Livelihood positions and budget restrictions in space-time

Some operationalisations

• Hägerstrand (1975) – Livelihood positions: employment, unemployment,

study, pension, social allowance, etc.– Budget restrictions: travel-to-work-area, ”rigid

structure of options”

• Labour markets as socially constructed and spatially situated (Hanson and Pratt 1992, etc)– Structures of gender and ethnicity

• Travel-to-work-area (restrictions)• Labour market entry (discrimination)

Research design

• Case study design– Three ”distressed neighbourhoods” (Rinkeby, Flemingsberg,

Rosengård) • Population with immigrant background (PIB)

• Young finishing school in 1993• Young not finishing upper secondary school

– Reference groups:• Greater Stockholm and Malmö regions

• Time analysis– 1993-2002– Sequences of livelihood positions (employment, unemployment,

pension, etc.)• Mixed methods apporach

– Quantitative, mainly descriptive analysis– Qualitative interview study

Data material

• Longitudinal, geocoded data base (PLACE)– All individuals– Neigbourhood level– Place of work– Income tax return

• 30 interviews– Immigrants who reside and have reisded in the case

study areas– Biographical approach

Definition

• ”Immigrant”– Quantitative study: Immigrant background

• Foreign born or both parents born in a foreign country

– Interview study: Self definition

Population in the case study areas

Flemingsberg• Pop. 7811• PIB: 4541 (58,1 %)

• PIB 16-64: 2923• Place of birth

– W. Europe (28,1 %)• Finland

– W. Asia (23 %)• Turkey

• Young leaving school 1993 (IB): 25

• Young not finishing school (at all) (IB): 43 (44,3 % of cohort)

Rosengård• Pop. 13 776• PIB: 11 321 (82,2 %)

• PIB 16-64: 6174• Place of birth

– E. Europe (35,9 %)• Yugoslavia• Poland

– W. Asia (29,5 %)• Libanon• Iraq

– Sweden (11,5 %)

• Young leaving school 1993 (IB): 67

• Young not finishing school (at all) (IB): (51,4 % of cohort)

Rinkeby 1993• Pop.: 13 091• PIB: 11 375 (86,9 %)

• PIB 16-64: 7412• Place of birth

– W. Asia (35,4 %)• Turkey• Iran

– W. Europe (22,1 %)• Greece • Finland

– Africa (12,6 %)• Ethiopia• Somalia

• Young leaving school 1993 (IB): 82

• Young not finishing school (at all) (IB): 163 (49,8 % of cohort)

Livelihood positions Stockholm region

Livelihood positions among immigrants, Flemingsberg (longitudinal 1993)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Va

lid

pe

rce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions, Greater Stockholm region (longitudinal 1993)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among immigrants, Rinkeby (longitudinal 1993)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

Va

lid p

erc

en

t

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positionsMalmö region

Livelihood positions, greater Malmö region (longitudinal 1993)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among immigrants, Rosengård (longitudinal 1993)

01020304050607080

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

Va

lid p

erc

en

t

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions Young leaving school, Stockholm

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993, Rinkeby

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993 in Greater Stockholm region

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993, Flemingsberg

0102030405060708090

100

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

Va

lid p

erc

en

t

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions Young leaving school, Malmö

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993 in great Malmö

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993, Rosengård

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993 in great Malmö

0,01

0,1

1

10

100

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young leaving school 1993, Rosengård

1

10

100

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood pos. among young not finishing school, Stockholm

Livelihood positions among young not finishing upper secondary school, Rinkeby

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Va

lid

pe

rce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood positions among young not finishing upper secondary school, Flemingsberg

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood pos. among young not finishing upper secondary school in Greater Stockholm region

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Val

id p

erce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood pos. among young not finishing school, Malmö

Livelihood positions among young not finishing upper secondary school, Rosengård

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Va

lid

pe

rce

nt

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Livelihood pos. among young not finishing upper secondary school in Greater Malmö region

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Va

lid p

erc

en

t

Employed

Unemployed

Student

Social allowance

Pension

Others

No data

Employment among categories

Employment among total population

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Val

id p

erce

nt Total pop. Sthlm

Total pop. Malmö

All imm. Rinkeby

All imm. Flemingsberg

All imm. Rosengård

Employment career 1: Fast

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Total pop. Sthlm

Fin. school, Sthlm

Fin. school, Malmö

Fin. school, Rinkeby

Fin. school, Flemingsberg

Employment career 2: Middle

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Total pop. Sthlm

All imm. Rosengård

Fin. school, Rosengård

Not fin. school, Sthlm

Not fin. school,Flemingsberg

Employment career 3: Slow

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Total pop. Sthlm

All imm. Rosengård

Not fin. school, Malmö

Not fin. school, Rinkeby

Not fin. school, Rosengård

But – where did they live in 2002?!

Immigrant population residing in the same area 1993 - 2002

0102030405060

Totalpopulation

Youngleaving

school 1993

Young notfinishingschool

Va

lid p

erc

en

t

Rinkeby

Flemingsberg

Rosengård

Work and out-migration

Share of working population 2002 residing in the same area 1993 - 2002

05

101520253035404550

Totalimmigrant

pop.

Youngleaving

School 1993

Young notfinishingschool

%

Rinkeby

Flemingsberg

Rosengård

Next step

• How much of this difference does gender explain?

• How does this pattern look for newly arrived immigrants in middle age?

• In what sectors did they work?

• From what positions did they enter the labour market?– Follow typical individual life histories– Aggregation of categories

Individual life paths 1993-2002Young leaving school in Rinkeby 1993

• Aggregation of life paths – individual combinations

• How to generalise these in order to follow the individual as close as possible?

ink_karriär

5 6,1 6,1 6,1

4 4,9 4,9 11,0

3 3,7 3,7 14,6

2 2,4 2,4 17,1

1 1,2 1,2 18,3

1 1,2 1,2 19,5

1 1,2 1,2 20,7

1 1,2 1,2 22,0

1 1,2 1,2 23,2

1 1,2 1,2 24,4

1 1,2 1,2 25,6

1 1,2 1,2 26,8

1 1,2 1,2 28,0

1 1,2 1,2 29,3

1 1,2 1,2 30,5

1 1,2 1,2 31,7

1 1,2 1,2 32,9

1 1,2 1,2 34,1

1 1,2 1,2 35,4

1 1,2 1,2 36,6

1 1,2 1,2 37,8

1 1,2 1,2 39,0

1 1,2 1,2 40,2

1 1,2 1,2 41,5

1 1,2 1,2 42,7

1 1,2 1,2 43,9

1 1,2 1,2 45,1

1 1,2 1,2 46,3

1 1,2 1,2 47,6

1 1,2 1,2 48,8

1 1,2 1,2 50,0

1 1,2 1,2 51,2

1 1,2 1,2 52,4

1 1,2 1,2 53,7

1 1,2 1,2 54,9

1 1,2 1,2 56,1

1 1,2 1,2 57,3

1 1,2 1,2 58,5

1 1,2 1,2 59,8

1 1,2 1,2 61,0

1 1,2 1,2 62,2

1 1,2 1,2 63,4

1 1,2 1,2 64,6

1 1,2 1,2 65,9

1 1,2 1,2 67,1

1 1,2 1,2 68,3

1 1,2 1,2 69,5

1 1,2 1,2 70,7

1 1,2 1,2 72,0

1 1,2 1,2 73,2

1 1,2 1,2 74,4

1 1,2 1,2 75,6

1 1,2 1,2 76,8

1 1,2 1,2 78,0

1 1,2 1,2 79,3

1 1,2 1,2 80,5

1 1,2 1,2 81,7

1 1,2 1,2 82,9

1 1,2 1,2 84,1

1 1,2 1,2 85,4

1 1,2 1,2 86,6

1 1,2 1,2 87,8

1 1,2 1,2 89,0

1 1,2 1,2 90,2

1 1,2 1,2 91,5

1 1,2 1,2 92,7

1 1,2 1,2 93,9

1 1,2 1,2 95,1

1 1,2 1,2 96,3

1 1,2 1,2 97,6

1 1,2 1,2 98,8

1 1,2 1,2 100,0

82 100,0 100,0

1111111111

3111111111

1611111111

4111111111

1122111111

4611111111

1164......

1661111111

1364444441

6644444111

1121111111

3331131111

6661062216

3611111116

1112440010

1261113111

1633141111

1461226111

3344611131

3662111111

3616113332

3113311311

3661110100

3644011111

3441113311

4641111111

3331111111

6333331111

6611611112

3311244111

6611111111

4464113334

3121111111

3333316111

361113...1

3300001000

3311241111

6111111111

3611111111

3614111111

3661444111

3514412111

6661116111

6616111111

3111161311

1666111146

4411106111

1611113311

3664444404

3163341..3

1613331111

3361101110

3144111166

1133111111

1111111112

6333311100

3644444111

1333331132

1111411111

3611231511

6621116111

4441111111

6621111111

4644611111

1311111333

1131111116

3613111111

3666111111

3333333311

6633131360

4641444111

4111133311

Total

ValidFrequency Percent Valid Percent

CumulativePercent

Preliminary conclusions

• When using longitudinal data it is possible to see dynamic tendencies of immigrant employment

• Finish upper secondary school is important for all young people to enter the labour market, but it is most important for immigrant youth– Young immigrants who finish school in Flemingsberg enter the

labour market to a higher degree than all other groups– Young immigrants in Rinkeby have fast or ”middle position” –

which is better than perhaps expected– Immigrants from Rosengård experience particular difficulties on

the labour market• Immigrants who are employed seldom remain as

residents in the case study area– Rosengård and young cohorts in particular