Female employment after migration: evidence from the recent immigrant sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel

Michaela Kreyenfeld, Hertie School of Governance
Cristina Samper, Hertie School of Governance

A large body of literature has amassed that investigates the conditions and processes of the labor market integration of male migrants (Fertig & Schurer, 2007; Kogan, 2004, 2007; Velling, 1995) Female migrants have often been viewed as “tied movers” (Adsera & Chiswick, 2007; Mincer, 1978) whose migration decision is contingent on the behavior of the male breadwinner. This view has been challenged by a growing numbers of female migrants seeking for employment in the German labor market. At the same time, migration laws have improved the possibilities for certain groups of “family migrants” to enter employment. Further, German family policies have been reformed in recent years allowing for a better compatibility of work and family life. This paper explores whether these factors have facilitated the integration process of female migrants into the German labor market. By means of event history modeling, we examine the duration it takes until different migrant groups enter employment after migration. We furthermore investigate how employment decisions intersect with decisions in the family domain of the life course. Data for this analysis comes from the migrant sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Our analytical sample includes migrants who have come to Germany in the years 1990-2013.