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Studying Immigrant Integration Through Self-Reported Life Satisfaction in the Country of Residence

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Abstract

Aim of this paper is to measure the effect of demographic, human capital and ‘immigration’ variables on the self-reported life satisfaction of young and adult immigrants residing in seven European countries, using the Immigrant Citizens Survey (ICS). Self-reported life satisfaction has been used to evaluate the immigrants’ integration within their country of residence, as it is commonly employed to estimate the perceived quality of life within a country or a specific social group. Results show that self-reported life satisfaction strongly depends on immigrants’ demographic characteristics and human capital factors, such as age, marital status, current economic situation and perceived financial well-being. ‘Immigration’ variables also play a role in determining life satisfaction, thus proving that conditions at both the origin and destination are important in determining immigrants’ self-reported life satisfaction. In particular, legal status and country of residence play a significant role in defining immigrants’ life satisfaction, thus demonstrating that the rights, resources and restrictions immigrants find within their country of residence determine their subjective experience of integration.

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Notes

  1. MIPEX is constructed by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group. It consists of 167 policy indicators on migrants’ opportunities to participate in the hosting society. There are eight policy areas examined, which range from labour market mobility to family reunification, to access to nationality. MIPEX is calculated for 38 countries, namely all EU Member States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA (http://www.mipex.eu/).

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  1. Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (IRPPS-CNR), Via Palestro 32, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Angela Paparusso

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Belgium (N = 1027)
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Table 6 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, France (N = 988)
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Table 7 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Germany (N = 1202)
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Table 8 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Hungary (N = 1201)
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Table 9 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Italy (N = 797)
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Table 10 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Portugal (N = 1259)
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Table 11 Beta coefficients of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with dependent variable life satisfaction, Spain (N = 994)
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Paparusso, A. Studying Immigrant Integration Through Self-Reported Life Satisfaction in the Country of Residence. Applied Research Quality Life 14, 479–505 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9624-1

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