Characteristics and labour market performance of the new member state (NMS12) immigrants in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

There is little previous comparative research on how new EU member state immigrant population (NMS) and their labour market performance differ across the old member states. This paper extends the earlier literature by investigating NMS immigrants’ composition and labour market performance in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom which are characterized by considerable differences in their labour market institutions. These institutional structures might also influence the labour market outcomes of NMS immigrants and these countries’ abilities to absorb immigrants. As measures of labour market performance we use labour force participation, employment, type of employment, and occupational attainment. We use pooled cross-sectional data from the European Union Labour Force Survey from years 2004-2009 in the analyses. We find that NMS12 immigrants had on average a lower probability of employment in comparison to natives in all other countries except for the UK during period 2004-2009. With the time spent in the host country the employment gap between NMS12 immigrants and natives narrows in Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. The type of employment and a higher risk of working in low skilled jobs NMS immigrants have in comparison to similar natives also indicate that the NMS immigrants have a more disadvantaged position in the host country labour market.