Stuck in a Time Warp: The Great Recession and the Socio- Occupational Integration of Migrants in Spain

Jiménez-García Juan Ramón , Pompeu Fabra University
Levatino Antonina, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona

This article examines the socio-occupational integration of the immigrant population in Spain for a time span that, for the first time, includes the post-crisis period. Using the Spanish Labour Force Survey and conducting a socio-occupational analysis, we predict the probability that a migrant would be employed in one class over another in three periods: before, during and after the crisis. Our main research question is: How were workers allocated in the Spanish labour market according to their gender and origin before, during and after the Great Recession? The results show how the crisis seems to have been harsher for male workers. They also provide support for the ethnostratification theory, showing a very unequal distribution of immigrants in the socio-occupational structure according to their origin. While immigrants from richer countries are better located in the occupational structure, those from poorer countries are over-represented in the lower socio-occupational classes. Although in certain cases, the post-crisis period has meant an improvement in the occupational condition of some groups, the situation is quite stable for other migrants, who seem to be stuck in a time warp.

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 Presented in Session 41. Immigration, Human Capital and Integration