Migrants in general seem to be most susceptible to economic ups and downs. The 1973 oil crisis threw migrants across Europe out of work. In contrast, Germany's strong manufacturing sector has kept the Turkish-immigrant unemployment rate at 20 percent. But pressure on foreigners is high, because their residency permits can be revoked if they remain unemployed for an extended period, Doomernik says. But for the second generation, it's very different.
Turkish kids have Dutch friends.
There's no clear segmentation. Second-generation migrants may be better educated than their parents but not reach the same academic scores as western Europeans. For example, most Moroccans who moved to the Netherlands were illiterate peasants, according to Doomernik. How comfortable migrants feel in their new homes is often a function of a country's integration policy, according to Doomernik. Migrants can become Dutch citizens within five years, and in 1995, the country had a naturalization rate of 9.2 percent, compared to 4.5 percent in Germany and 2.7 percent in France.