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Individualized Benefits and Access to Active Labor Market Programs Boost Refugee Women’s Economic Integration

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The economic and social integration of refugees is a key policy concern. The situation of refugee women is particularly challenging, as many never enter the labor force. We study a reform of the Swedish integration program that aimed to tackle this issue by increasing women’s participation in and access to active labor market programs. Using administrative data and a regression discontinuity design, we show that the reform resulted in lasting improvements in women’s earnings and employment. We find no effects for men. Additional analyses suggest that individualizing benefits and early registration with the Public Employment Service are key mechanisms.

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  • Bratu, Cristina & Martén, Linna & Ottosson, Lillit, 2023. "Individualized Benefits and Access to Active Labor Market Programs Boost Refugee Women’s Economic Integration," Working Paper Series 3/2023, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2023_003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Refugees; Integration; Active Labor Market Program;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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