In Europe, Arduous Jobs Fall on First-Generation Migrants: But Later Generations Benefit from Improved Opportunities

Vincent Vandenberghe

De Economist, 2025, vol. 173, issue 3, No 1, 425-448

Abstract: Abstract This paper contributes to the literature on migrants’ labour-market disadvantages by considering one dimension that has received limited attention in Europe: their occupations’ (relative) physical arduousness. To quantify their arduousness gap, the paper combines (i) data from the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) informing on occupation and immigration status with (ii) information on occupational arduousness from the U.S. O*NET database, categorised at the ISCO 3-digit level. The findings reveal that first-generation migrants, particularly women and/or non-EU migrants, are disproportionately concentrated in arduous jobs, experiencing a significant disadvantage in working conditions. However, this disadvantage slowly diminishes over time, with the accumulation of residency in the host country leading to improved occupational outcomes. Notably, second-generation migrants close this gap and even experience a slight advantage in work arduousness compared to native workers, pointing to complete convergence.

Keywords: Work arduousness; Migrant-native arduousness Gap; Working conditions; Convergence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J62 J71 J81 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Working Paper: In Europe, Arduous Jobs Fall On First-Generation Migrants. But Later Generations Benefit From Improved Opportunities (2025)
Working Paper: In Europe, Arduous Jobs Fall On First-Generation Migrants. But Later Generations Benefit From Improved Opportunities (2025)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10645-025-09453-x

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