Query: Immigrants in Germany

title: What Mediates the Relationship Between Ethnic Discrimination and Stress? Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Support of Russian Immigrants in Germany
abstract: Experiences of ethnic discrimination may constitute major stressors for ethnic minority groups. This study examined the associations between different forms of ethnic discrimination and levels of perceived stress in Russian immigrants living in Germany, taking into account potential moderating (in group identification) and mediating (coping and social support) factors.  Russian immigrants (N 308) were assessed using online questionnaires (e.g. perceived stress scale, behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotype treatment scale, and brief COPE) Three forms of ethnic discrimination were examined: active harm (e.g. open aggression) passive harm (e.g. paternalistic behavior) and everyday discrimination (e.g. receiving poor service) Moderation by in group identification and mediation via coping and social support were tested.  Passive harm was more prevalent than everyday discrimination and active harm. Passive harm and everyday discrimination were associated with higher perceived stress (rs .22 and .18, ps .01) and in group identification did not moderate these associations (ps .27) The coping strategy self blame mediated the association between active harm and stress. Substance use and self blame mediated the association between passive harm and stress, whereas venting, behavioral disengagement, denial, self blame, and social support mediated the association between everyday discrimination and stress. A direct effect remained for passive harm and everyday discrimination.  The present study revealed that Russian immigrants encounter different forms of ethnic discrimination, and that this is associated with higher levels of stress. This association was partly explained by coping and social support, illustrating possibilities for interventions aimed at improving the use of adaptive coping strategies and promoting social support seeking for Russian immigrants.

title: Suicide among immigrants in Germany.
abstract: The identification of high risk groups is crucial in public health suicide prevention approaches. This study aims to compare suicide risks of Germans with nine of the largest immigrant populations living in Germany.  Based on a German national database of mortality statistics, the number of suicides in Germans and immigrants was available for the study period (2000 2017) stratified for gender and age groups. Standard mortality ratios (SMR) for suicide were computed since age distributions differed between populations. Moreover, SMR of immigrant populations were correlated with potential risk and resilience factors.  The analysed dataset covers a period of 18 years, which translates to over 1.47 billion life years (LY) and 206,056 recorded suicides. 134,971,779 LY (10.1% and 8,936 (4.3% suicides were assigned to non German citizens. SMR, calculated for nine of the largest immigrant populations, were lower compared with the German reference population ranging from 0.24 (Greek nationality) to 0.86 (Russian nationality) SMR in immigrants was highest in adolescents and declined with age. SMR was associated with country of origin (CO) suicide rates as well as with socio economic factors of immigrant groups in Germany. With the global financial crisis, suicide risk of immigrants from the most affected countries decreased more strongly compared to immigrants from other CO.  The suicide risk strongly differs between the individual immigrant groups and is associated with risk factors of the respective CO. Therefore, future suicide prevention approaches in immigrants should take CO specific vulnerabilities into account as well as age related risk factors.

title: Wage Performance of Immigrants in Germany
abstract: This paper updates and deepens our understanding of the wage performance of immigrants in Germany. Using the German Socio Economic Panel, it documents that immigrant workers initially earn on average 20% less than native workers with otherwise identical characteristics. The gap is smaller for immigrants from advanced countries, with good German language skills, and with a German degree, and larger for others. The gap declines gradually over time but at a decreasing rate and much faster for more recent cohorts. Less success in obtaining jobs with higher occupational autonomy explains half of the wage gap.

title: Trajectories of health related quality of life in immigrants and non immigrants in Germany: a population based longitudinal study
abstract: ObjectivesDue to a lack of longitudinal studies on health in immigrants, the purpose of the present study is to investigate trajectories of health related quality of life (HRQoL) in immigrants and non immigrants in Germany by considering the impact of immigration related factors.MethodsBased on longitudinal SOEP data from 2002 to 2012, the trajectories of the mental (MCS) and physical component (PCS) of HRQoL (assessed with SF 12v2) were analyzed in 8546 subjects, including 1064 immigrants by conducting hierarchical linear models.ResultsMCS remains stable over time, whereas PCS shows a decrease, influenced by increasing age. There were no differences between immigrants and non immigrants concerning PCS trajectories as well as no influence of immigration related factors on it. In contrast, MCS trajectories were influenced by immigration related factors: 2nd generation immigrants, participants from Turkey or Southern Europe and those who immigrated at young age show a slight decrease in MCS over time.ConclusionsThe results show negative association between MCS and time in different groups of immigrants. Future research is needed for better conceptualization of the complex interplay between health and migration over time to identify subgroups at greater risk for mental distress.

title: Tolerance and perceived threat toward Muslim immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands
abstract: This article studies how different types of tolerance and perceived threat affect opinions about the EU immigration policy in Germany and the Netherlands. We assess to what extent social and political tolerance for and sociotropic and personal threats from Muslim immigrants influence EU citizens' beliefs that immigration is one of the most important issues facing the EU. By experimentally manipulating religion of immigrant, level of perceived threat, and type of tolerance, we examine how people's attitudes on immigration policies change. Our findings shed light on how EU countries might deal with the rising tide of intolerance toward immigrants and Muslims, and how better policies of integration could be implemented in a multicultural Europe.

title: Parental Background Matters: Intergenerational Mobility and Assimilation of Italian Immigrants in Germany
abstract: We investigate the hypothesis of failed integration and low social mobility of immigrants. An intergenerational assimilation model is tested empirically on household survey data and validated against registry data provided by the Italian Embassy in Germany. Although we confirm substantial disparities between educational achievements of immigrants and natives, we find that the children of Italian immigrants exhibit high intergenerational mobility and no less opportunity than natives to achieve high schooling degrees. These findings suggest a rejection of the failed assimilation hypothesis. Additionally, we evaluate different patterns by time of arrival, Italian region of origin and language spoken at home.

title: Why Do Immigrant Students Aim High? Explaining the Aspiration Achievement Paradox of Immigrants in Germany

title: Social and health epidemiology of immigrants in Germany: past, present and future
abstract: Germany has experienced different forms of immigration for many decades. At the end of and after the Second World War, refugees, displaced persons and German resettlers constituted the largest immigrant group. In the 1950s, labor migration started, followed by family reunification. There has been a constant migration of refugees and asylum seekers reaching peaks in the early 1990s as well as today. Epidemiological research has increasingly considered the health, and the access to health care, of immigrants and people with migration background. In this narrative review we discuss the current knowledge on health of immigrants in Germany. The paper is based on a selective literature research with a focus on studies using representative data from the health reporting system.Our review shows that immigrants in Germany do not suffer from different diseases than non immigrants, but they differ in their risk for certain diseases, in the resources to cope with theses risk and regarding access to treatment. We also identified the need for differentiation within the immigrant population, considering among others social and legal status, country of origin and duration of stay. Though most of the studies acknowledge the need for differentiation, the lack of data currently rules out analyses accounting for the existing diversity and thus a full understanding of health inequalities related to migration to Germany.

title: The Labor Market Performance of Immigrants in Germany
abstract: The paper uses a large survey (GSOEP) to analyze the labor market performance of immigrants in Germany. It finds that new immigrant workers earn on average 20 percent less than native workers with otherwise identical characteristics. The gap is smaller for immigrants from advanced countries, with good German language skills, and with a German degree, and larger for others. The gap declines gradually over time. Less success in obtaining jobs with higher occupational autonomy explains half of the wage gap. Immigrants are also initially less likely to participate in the labor market and more likely to be unemployed. While participation fully converges after 20 years, immigrants always remain more likely to be unemployed than the native labor force.

title: Determinants of self employment among Polish and Romanian immigrants in Germany
abstract: AbstractThis empirical study investigates the determinants of self employment propensity of Polish and Romanian immigrants in Germany. The German economy is an important object of analysis, as it is the most important destination for international migrants in the European Union. In the paper, we use the recently collected M sample of the German Socio Economic Panel to examine which personal, country of birth specific socio economic and cultural factors influence the self employment propensity of immigrants. The results of binominal logit regression show that the Central European migrants exhibit different self employment propensity than migrants from former Yugoslavia, Russian and Kazakhstan, Turkey and Italy, with the self employment aversion especially strong among Romanians. These differences remain substantial even after controlling for social and human capital endowment of the individuals. This study offers important policy recommendations, showing the potential obstacles in encouraging entrepreneuri.