The Space Between? Second Generation Ethnic Differentials in Labor Market Outcomes in Selected European Cities

Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)

This paper uses harmonized data from ‘The Integration of the European Second Generation’ (TIES) project to examine the labor market integration of second generation individuals of Turkish, Moroccan, and Former-Yugoslavian descent in thirteen European cities. The analyses focus on net ethnic differentials in analyses of unemployment, neet rate and occupational status. They also attempt to assess the relative impact that respondents' human capital and selected individual characteristics (used to measure ethnic penalties), and parental social background have on the labor market outcomes of the second generation. Results show that the TIES second generation is more likley to have a disadvantaged position on the labour market, exemplified by higher rates of unemployment, higher neet rates, and a lower likelihood of holding a professional occupation. Parental social background appears to have a greater impact. Yet, the labor market integration of the second generation also varies by country, if not city.