GML

Poverty and migration

Researcher: Jeanette Bohr
Departement: Monitoring Society and Social Change, German Microdata Lab
In cooperation with: Andrea Janßen (Hochschule Esslingen)

Abstract

A reason for migration is the hope for better living conditions. In this sense, migration should be understood as a way out of poverty. At the same time, however, migrants and persons with a migration background are more at risk of poverty in the countries of arrival than non-migrants. Theoretical approaches assume that the economic situation of migrants improves after a certain period of residence. Moreover, subsequent generations should have lower at-risk-of-poverty rates than the first generation. Both assumptions are investigated with microcensus data for three groups of migrants: Italian and Turkish migrants who came to Germany as guest worker migrants from the mid-1950s onwards, and the group of Aussiedler or late repatriates who have moved to Germany mainly since 1987.

Janßen, Andrea, and Jeanette Bohr (2018): Armut und Migration. In: Böhnke, Petra, Jan Goebel und Jörg Dittmann (ed.): Handbuch Armut. Ursachen, Trends, Maßnahmen. Berlin, Opladen, Toronto: Barbara Budrich.