Policies promoting higher employment for non-Western immigrant women

In the main, active labour-market and social benefit policies have positive effects on employment among immigrant women. They are less effective for women than men, whereas the reverse appears to be the case in the long term for policies aimed at skills enhancement (language and formal education). The results may explain why reforms of introduction programmes have had no effect in the short term. Subsidies for child care in the home reduce women’s participation in the labour market, whereas subsidies for out-of-home child-care do not affect employment. The evidence suggests that a broader view of family circumstances may be needed in order to improve levels of employment among immigrant women. The policy brief is produced by Nordregio on behalf of the Nordic Welfare Centre and the project Nordic collaboration for integration. More information at www.integrationnorden.org