The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit Immigration to Denmark An Overview of the Research Carried Out from 1999 to 2006 by the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit Poul Chr. Matthiessen University Press of Southern Denmark Odense 2009 Immigration to Denmark An Overview of the Research Carried Out from 1999 to 2006 by the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit Published by: © The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit and University Press of Southern Denmark Copying from this book is permitted only within Institutions that have agreements with CopyDan, and only in accordance with the limitations laid down in the agreement Linguistic adviser: Tim Caudery Address: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit Sejroegade 11 DK-2100 Copenhagen Oe Telephone: +45 39 17 38 32 Fax: +45 39 20 52 19 E-mail: [email protected] Home page: www.rff.dk ISBN 978 87 7674 413 7 October 2009 Cover Photo: Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo Print run: 800 Printed by Special-Trykkeriet Viborg a-s Price: 235.00 DKK, including 25% VAT Foreword 3 Foreword The Rockwool Foundation aims to provide new knowledge of society to inform Denmark’s decision-makers and the public debate. Since 1997, the Rockwool Foundation has given high priority to the study of conditions of life for non- Western immigrants in Denmark among the research topics that it supports. A whole range of research reports in this field have been published from 1999 onwards, mainly in Danish, together with some more readily accessible presentations intended to provide a wider public with access to the main results of the research. At one hand there had been a very involved public debate during the 1990s and even before this, and on the other hand the issue had only scarcely been empirically considered in Denmark at the time of the unit’s first publication in 1999. Initially, the research focused especially on issues concerned with the integration of non-Western immigrants into the Danish labour market, supplemented by a number of analyses of other important factors concerning conditions of life in Denmark for immigrants, and of demographic factors. Later, the work was extended to include analyses of other related topics. In addition, a comparative study was conducted in collaboration with Professor Klaus F. Zimmermann of the Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA – Institute for the Study of Labor) in Bonn. The study was based on data of an almost identical nature concerning the integration of non-Western immigrants into the labour markets of Denmark and Germany as well as other aspects of their conditions of life and their situation in relation to the welfare state. In 2007, with a view to providing the international research community with access to this very comprehensive body of material through an overview presentation in English, I approached Poul Chr. Matthiessen, former professor of demography at the University of Copenhagen, and invited him to write a summary of the central results in a readily accessible form. Professor Matthiessen was in an excellent position to undertake the task of disseminating information in this area, since he had also played a central role in the Rockwool Foundation’s work on immigration from the outset. This book is the outcome of his work. At the same time as summarising previous work, Professor Matthiessen has aimed to update the factual information involved as far as possible, so that the book now presents not only the research that has been carried out but also a great deal of information about the most recent immigration to Denmark and about immigrants’ integration into Danish society. In the writing of this book, the author and the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit have benefited from comments on the text from various experts in the areas covered by the different analyses. The former Head of Research at the Research Unit, Gunnar Viby Mogensen, who was responsible for starting the programme of research on this topic under the auspices of the Rockwool Foundation, and 4 Foreword who has himself published various books in the field, has read and commented on the entire manuscript, as has Bent Jensen of the Research Unit. Several researchers currently or previously employed at the Research Unit, namely Jens Bonke, Claus Larsen, Niels-Kenneth Nielsen and Marie Louise Schultz-Nielsen, have also contributed to the work by reading through and commenting on the chapters concerned with their particular research projects in the field. Similarly, Professor Eskil Wadensjö from the University of Stockholm and Hans Jørgen Nielsen, former Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, have commented on the sections where their research is presented. I would like to mention in particular the very helpful cooperation we have received from Statistics Denmark, which is under the direction of Jan Plovsing. Statistics Denmark not only works closely with the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit but also hosts our offices within their premises. I would like to express my thanks to a number of people working within the Research Unit. Mai-britt Sejberg, the Research Unit secretary, has corrected the proofs, prepared the manuscript for printing and carried out other practical tasks in connection with the production of the book. Johannes K. Clausen and Peer Skov, both students of Political Science, have provided skilled research assistance, while Bent Jensen, in addition to providing academic commentary on the manuscript, has been responsible for liaison with our ever-patient and highly professional publisher, the University Press of Southern Denmark. As always with the Research Unit’s projects, the work on this book has been carried out in complete academic independence and free from the influence of any party, including the Rockwool Foundation itself, who have generously provided the necessary resources. Poul Chr. Matthiessen and I would like to extend our warmest thanks to the staff of the Foundation, including the President, Elin Schmidt, and the Board, chaired by Tom Kähler, for their unfailing support and cooperation. Copenhagen, October 2009 Torben Tranæs Contents 5 Contents 1. Immigration to Denmark since the 1960s..............................................9 1.1. Introduction ...........................................................................................9 1.2. Numbers of immigrants and second generation immigrants ...............10 1.3. Naturalisation ......................................................................................15 1.4. Remigration .........................................................................................18 1.5. Gender and age distributions...............................................................18 1.6. Fertility ................................................................................................19 1.7. Immigration of labour, family reunification and refugees...................20 1.7.1. Permits for work and study....................................................20 1.7.2. Family reunification ..............................................................21 1.7.3. Refugees ................................................................................22 1.7.4. Annual asylum statistics and longitudinal analyses...............23 1.8. Summary .............................................................................................24 2. The various stages of the research and the datasets used ....................29 2.1. Introduction .........................................................................................29 2.2. The 1999 study ....................................................................................30 2.2.1. Introduction ...........................................................................30 2.2.2. The questionnaire survey.......................................................31 2.2.3. The omnibus surveys.............................................................35 2.2.4. Register information..............................................................35 2.2.5. The Law Model .....................................................................36 2.3. The 2001 study ....................................................................................36 2.4. The German dataset.............................................................................39 2.5. Summary .............................................................................................42 3. Education and Danish language proficiency .......................................45 3.1. The 1999 study ....................................................................................45 3.1.1. Introduction ...........................................................................45 3.1.2. Education from countries of origin........................................46 3.1.3. The overall picture of the education level of non-Western immigrants.......................................................47 3.1.4. Significant factors for the level of education of non-Western immigrants.......................................................50 3.1.5. Danish language proficiency skills among non-Western immigrants and second generation immigrants.....................52 3.2. The 2001 study ....................................................................................56 3.3. The 2004 study ....................................................................................58 3.4. Summary .............................................................................................59 4. Crime among