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the successive generations change in the course of time. If one wants to measure
integration by way of indicators, the situation is compared at a particular point in
time. Individual integration processes showing different developments, at the time of
the measurement can be at different stages of integration. These measurements are
then added up and standardised at a given point in time (eg by the formation of
ratios). The difference in the time sequence and between the generations are,
therefore, blurred since only one mean value is retained at a point in time. Behind
this average value, considerable differences eg of nationality/country of origin etc.,
can continue to exist. A more detailed breakdown, as far as this is statistically
possible, could make these differences visible.
As a rule, one can assume that integration has proceeded further the longer the
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foreigner has stayed in the receiving country. This must not, however, necessarily be
so as is shown in the report of the French Haut Conseil à l Immigration. In the current
situation it can quite possibly happen that the children of immigrants, even if they
have French nationality, are less integrated than their parents. The poor labour-
market situation with high unemployment and the consequences of an unbalanced
housing policy partly marginalise the second generations.
Because of the time dimension of integration, the degree of integration can only be
correctly determined in the time sequence, that is with the help of a longitudinal
survey. The individual development of the immigrants and that of the following
generations within the society of the receiving country would have to be followed up
and compared with the national population. This is, for example, possible with a
retrospective survey during which the stages of integration are individually surveyed
on the basis of past development up to the time of the survey.
The measurement of integration in the form of indicators is therefore not
unproblematic. Nevertheless, some indicators are to be presented below which can
be seen as pointers to the level of integration of the foreign workers into the labour
market.
There is no single indicator which depicts the stage of integration reached. Only by
simultaneously looking at several indicators can an overall picture be obtained.
Assessment of the indicators must not be carried out schematically on the basis of
one figure. Behind the one figure in each case other processes can be hidden which
are attributable to differences in the functioning of the labour markets from country to
country.
The number of indicators providing useful information must be small if they are to
have any weight for the assessment of integration and if importance is attached to
their empirical verifiability and international comparability. Below some indicators
selected according to these points of view are presented and discussed.
To assure comparability the following indicators are based on the annual labour force
sample survey of Eurostat and on a comparable sample survey for Sweden.
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4. Some indicators for the measurement of integration into the labour
market
4.1 Unemployment rate
Unemployment has an unfavourable effect on the integration of foreign workers.
Repeated or lengthy periods of unemployment lead to de-skilling and involve the risk
of marginalisation. In table 1 the unemployment rates for nationals and foreigners for
the four countries considered here are shown for 1993. Table 1 shows that in all four
countries the unemployment rate for foreigners is considerably higher than that for
nationals. It usually amounts to double the unemployment rate for nationals. If one
splits up ages into under 25 (young people) and over 25, the differences between the
rates are even more marked (table 2). The young foreigners reach - except in the
Federal Republic of Germany -considerably higher unemployment rates as the
comparable national age group. This is to be understood as a clear signal for the
education and labour market policies that there is a need for corrective measures to
be taken!
This situation has not improved for the foreign workers since the early 1980s. In
particular, the unemployment rates for young foreign people have remained
frighteningly high. Only in Germany has the unemployment rate for foreign young
people fallen considerably. This is due to the fact that, as a result of demographic
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