Using EU Indicators of Immigrant Integration - European ...

24integration outcomes according to the outlinedEU indicators.2.3.3 Which integration policyfactors influence socialinclusion outcomes?It seems that there are hardly any social policiestargeted specifically at immigrants as most socialpolicies in the field of poverty reduction applyto the whole population. There are some studiesassessing whether social benefits reduce povertymore or less for immigrants and others that investigatewhether immigrants receive more benefitsthan non-immigrants. However, for the mostpart the link between social policies and migrantintegration remains largely under-researched.2.3.4 Which integration policyfactors influence activecitizenship outcomes?Naturalisation policies have a significant effect onimmigrants’ acquisition of citizenship. Researchershave used several citizenship policy indexesand come up with very similar results. UsingMIPEX, many researchers have found positivecorrelations between countries’ policies and naturalisationrates: the more restrictive the policy, thelower the overall rate. Eurostat’s bivariate analysisfinds that naturalisation policies explain 50 %of the variation in Member States’ naturalisationrates. Other colleagues focused on one immigrantgroup (Turks) and observed that differences inpolicies explained 43 % of the variation in theirnaturalisation rates across 11 EU Member States.According to forthcoming EU funded project ACIT,immigrants from developed countries are morelikely to naturalise in countries that facilitatenaturalisation, while immigrants from developingcountries are twice as likely. The dual citizenshippolicy of countries of origin also impacts naturalisationrates. According to the ACIT analysis, immigrantswho come from countries allowing dualnationality are 88 percent more likely to naturalisein their new country of residence. Immigrantsbecome citizens and long-term residence moreoften in countries where the process is more inclusiveand where dual citizenship is accepted inboth the country of origin and destination. Shorterresidence requirements, acceptance of dual citizenship,some forms of birth-right citizenship,and support to pay naturalisation requirementsare examples than can boost active citizenship ofimmigrants.The interaction between citizenship acquisitionand integration is a complex one. The acquisitionof citizenship is not only a result of immigrants’integration, but also a status that furtherimproves their social, economic, and politicalintegration. Evidence of citizenship’s impact onintegration has been collected by researchers,including the OECD and the ACIT project. Somelongitudinal studies find that naturalised immigrantstend to obtain better-paid and higherskilledjobs, especially in the public sector. Themost vulnerable immigrant groups are mostlikely to see their economic integration improvethrough naturalisation: first generation fromlow-income countries, the second generation,and in some cases groups with low employmentrates. Citizenship can reduce real (or perceived)legal barriers and administrative costs for hiringimmigrants. It is also a signal that somebodywants to settle long-term which increases incentivesfor employers to invest in an employee.Long-term residenceFew quantitative research exists on the factorsinfluencing long-term residence, partly due tothe inavailability of data. The project’s bivariateanalysis used recently made available data onall national and EU permits. A slightly positiverelationship emerges between long-term residencepolicies and the share of long-term residents.The more inclusive the policy, the morethird-country nationals are long-term residents.The project’s bivariate analysis also found aslightly negative relationship between naturalisationpolicies and the share of long-termresidents. The more restrictive the naturalisationpolicies, the more third-country nationals arelong-term residents.Citizenship and long-term residence are only twoelements of active citizenship. Other forms ofpolitical participation of migrants such as voting,membership and/or participation in organisations,running for or holding a political office, volunteeringor participating in social movementsand protests are to be further explored to captureimmigrant’s political and civic involvement.Chapter 3:The Relevance of EUmigrant integrationindicatorsThis section of the report discusses how alreadyidentified and possible additional EU indicatorsare relevant for integration. All existing and anyproposed EU integration indicators are assessedin terms of their relevance for EU objectives,