New member state workers in Western European labour markets. Are they civically stratified?

Abstract

This study applies the theory of civic stratification to analyse how the integration of EU-10 and EU-3 immigrants into the labour markets of six European countries–France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom–has evolved between 2005 and 2016. Special attention is paid to the effect of the moratoria on the free movement of workers, which lasted between 0 and 7 years. Data from the EU-LFS is used in two mixed effects logistic regression models for each country, using the following dependent variables: having employment and if that employment matches the qualifications of the worker. The interaction between nationality (own-country, EU-10, EU-3 and EU-15) and whether or not a moratoria exists is used to compare the level of labour integration of the EU-10 and EU-3 groups with that of national populations and EU-15 immigrants. Our results show that during the moratoria EU-10 and EU-3 immigrants have had a much lower labour market performance than people with full European citizenship. This gap has decreased drastically, without disappearing in many cases, after the moratoria ended.