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Das Glück der Migranten: eine Lebenslaufanalyse zum subjektiven Wohlbefinden von Migranten der ersten Generation in Deutschland

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  • Hilke Brockmann

Abstract

How happy are first-generation immigrants in Germany today? How do patterns of formal or informal discrimination affect their subjective life satisfaction? What is the effect of material and immaterial resources? What are the relevant standardsfor the evaluation of happiness? And how does the level of subjective well-being change over time? To answer these questions,we use longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel and a multilevel approach. Our findings show that the subjective well-being of immigrants has declined continuously between 1984 and 2008. Social discrimination has a negative effect on subjective wellbeing. Yet, the major influence comes from the ownership and control of resources- as inthe domestic population. Immigrants use different social and temporal reference scales to evaluate their happiness. While household income is usually compared to local Germans, the ethnic community is the standard reference for evaluating social and health resources. The most important reference point, however, is the immigrant's individual past. Yet, the naturalization of the immigrant greatly reduces the significance of this reference.

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  • Hilke Brockmann, 2012. "Das Glück der Migranten: eine Lebenslaufanalyse zum subjektiven Wohlbefinden von Migranten der ersten Generation in Deutschland," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 504, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp504
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    Keywords

    Migration; subjective well-being; Germany; lifecourse; APC effects; reference groups; temporal comparisons; discrimination; social inequality; integration;
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