The increase in the number of employed people is largely due to those born abroad, who are vital for a functional welfare system and workplace. However, claims of exclusion and failure of integration are prevalent, despite the positive impact foreign-born people have made in various industries. While improving the employment rate among foreign-born women must be a priority, it’s worth noting that they already have similar rates as domestic-born women in the EU. The focus should be on targeted measures to help groups find work, rather than painting sweeping claims as facts. With a calm and nuanced tone, we can recognize the foreign-born as a valuable asset and keep society together.
Those born abroad have accounted for the largest increase in the number of employed people and are the labor force that makes society function. In his government statement, the Prime Minister described the integration as a failure. In addition, organizations such as Svenskt Näringsliv believe that exclusion is growing. But what is rarely highlighted is that foreign-born people are absolutely crucial for a functioning welfare system and enough colleagues in the workplace. If sweeping claims are regarded as facts, it risks directing attention in the wrong direction and pulling society apart.
There are undoubtedly problems in the labor market linked to a lack of integration. More people need to go to work to make a living, be part of a context and contribute to society. This applies to both foreign and domestic born. But we need to examine claims about the position of foreign-born people in the Swedish labor market that figure in the debate, because the picture is often brighter than what is claimed.
Strong development
When we step through the door of the health center or want to make a clothing or food purchase, it is those born abroad who to a very large extent ensure that the care works and that there are staff in the store. The same applies in industry, the education sector and the hotel and restaurant industry. Within several industries, the number of employed domestically born people has decreased at the same time. Contrary to the usual description, foreign-born people have both had a strong development and made a difference in the labor market. This has also improved over time. From the fact that it previously took seven to nine years before half of the new arrivals were in work, it now takes rather four years. It is a noticeable improvement.
Of course, foreign-born women and men must have equal opportunities to get a job. Today, it is the toughest for women born abroad. But the development is going in the right direction. Here, it is important to be able to have two thoughts in your head at the same time.
In Sweden, foreign-born women have about the same employment rate as domestic-born women in the EU
Unemployment is high among foreign-born women, but the percentage of employed among foreign-born is both historically high and also higher than for foreign-born in the EU as an average. In Sweden, foreign-born women have about the same employment rate as domestic-born women in the EU. And to a significantly higher degree than countries such as Italy and Greece. This does not mean that we should be satisfied, but the picture needs to be nuanced by the fact that foreign-born women in Sweden do not work.
An often recurring description is that we in Sweden have an unusually large gap between the employment rate of the domestic and foreign born. But that gap is explained by the fact that the native-born have a very high employment rate in Sweden compared to the rest of the world. This applies especially to domestically born women. The difference is therefore not explained by the fact that foreign-born are employed to an unusually low extent in Sweden – but by the fact that very many domestic-born have work.
Contributes to society
To a greater extent, we must see the foreign-born as an asset on the labor market and that the foreign-born contribute to society. This is a resource compared to how it looks in the outside world. The fact is that for a long time foreign-born people have been decisive for employers’ opportunities to recruit.
Since 2005, the number of employed people born outside Sweden has increased by just over 600,000 people. At the same time, employment among the native-born has increased by just over 100,000 people. Of the total increase, those born abroad have thus accounted for more than 80 percent. This at the same time as the employment rate for those born abroad has clearly increased.
Calmer tone
If we are to be at the forefront in terms of growth and welfare, more people must work. Employers are already clamoring for labour. In its latest population forecast, Statistics Norway expects that foreign-born people will account for the majority of the addition to the working-age population in the future. By 2035, the foreign-born share of the increase is expected to reach nearly 80 percent. We therefore need to see those born abroad as an asset and that everyone who works contributes tax revenue to our common.
More targeted measures are needed for groups that find it difficult to get a job, not least for foreign-born women. But with the right focus and a calmer tone in the debate, the possibilities increase that the right efforts are made in the labor market so that even more people can get a job to go to. That’s how we keep society together.
Therese Svanström, chairman of the TCO