The Joint EC/OECD seminar on the Labour Market Integration of the Children of Immigrants

The Joint EC/OECD seminar on the Labour Market Integration of the Children of Immigrants

Technical seminar co-organised by the European Commission and the OECD
1st-2nd October 2009, Brussels

 Programme of the seminar -  Printable version

 

The integration of the children of immigrants – both those born in the host country (“second generation”) and those who arrived young enough to be educated in the host country – is of growing policy relevance for OECD countries. This group is entering the labour market in ever-larger numbers. Since these children of immigrants have been raised and educated in the host country, their outcomes are often seen as the “benchmark” for successful integration policy. Concern over labour market integration is particularly pertinent for those children whose parents were low-educated.

 

The labour market integration of the children of immigrants is an area where comparative international knowledge is gradually evolving but still underdeveloped. Recent work by the OECD (Jobs for Immigrants, Volume 1 and Volume 2) and the EU Commission has shown that the children of immigrants tend to have lower employment outcomes than the children of natives in most countries. This is partly due to their lower educational attainment, but a substantial gap remains even when education levels are comparable.

A joint technical seminar of the EU Commission and the OECD Secretariat took place in Brussels on 1 October (afternoon) and 2 October (all day) in order to shed more light on the issues involved in the labour market integration of the children of immigrants, and to discuss possible policy solutions between researchers and policy makers.

 

Access to the European Commission web site

 

Background document by the OECD Secretariat: Children of immigrants in the labour markets of EU and OECD countries: an overview

 

Other contributions to the seminar will be published.