Remittances from Sweden. an Exploration of Swedish Survey Data

The present study explores data on transfers of gifts/economic support to relatives from a recent Swedish Household Income Survey (HEK) compiled by Statistics Sweden. It provides the first analysis of demographic determinants of remittances from Sweden based on official household survey and register data. By exploring a data set that also includes non-migrant households, it presents a unique comparison of patterns of gift-giving and intra-family support between migrant and non-migrant households. We argue that data from the Household Income Survey can be used to obtain an empirically based estimation of the determinants of remittances from Sweden. According to our results, the flows of remittances to developing countries from Sweden appear to be relatively small in comparison with remittance flows from other developed countries. The article analyses these transfers of gifts/economic support in relation to different kinds of income, education, age, time since migration, acquisition of citizenship and family situation. Analyses are made for three types of country groups : developing countries, non-developing countries and Sweden. Whereas the general propensity to give economic support to relatives is similar among native Swedes and migrants from developing and non-developing countries, the patterns of gift-giving and intra-family economic support differ significantly over the life course between individuals from different country groups. Native Swedes tend to give gifts and economic support to relatives at higher ages and when they have adult children who have moved away from home. Migrants from developing countries tend to be younger and have children living at home. The propensity of native Swedes to remit increases with increasing income. Among migrants born in developing countries, other factors than income seem to be more decisive for the propensity to remit. Diverging patterns of remittances between migrants from developing countries and the other groups indicate that remittances are strongly related to phases in the individual life course that vary with the individual migration history.Remittances; Intra-family transfers; Life course

‘A STRONG MIND AND A SOLID PHYSIQUE’: Symbolic Constructions of Migrant Workers in Sweden’s Green Industries

This article analyses how employer federations, trade unions and the Swedish state symbolically construct seasonal migrant workers to work in the green industries, specifically in agriculture, forestry and wild-berry picking. Work tasks and skills become ethnicised where certain groups are constructed as ‘fit’ for certain work tasks. Through symbolic constructing, boundaries are drawn in relation to Swedish workers in general but also hierarchically within the group of seasonal migrant workers and in relation to specific groups in Sweden, typically un-employed youth and newly settled refugees. This paper is based on interviews with unions and employer organisations as well as secondary text-sources and legal texts. The analysis shows that while employers construct seasonal migrant workers as vital for agriculture, forestry and wild-berry picking, arguing that their line of business could not be sustained without them, the union side portrays this as an ‘artificial demand’. Within a system that to a large degree is based on employers’ demand for inexpensive and flexible labour, symbolic boundaries of seasonal migrant workers are not only performed by the employers’ side, but are also co-constructed with and sanctioned by the state; while partly contested by the unions

From panic to business as usual: What coronavirus has revealed about migrant labour, agri-food systems and industrial relations in the Nordic countries

This article focuses on migrant labour in Nordic agriculture, wild berry picking and food processing. The starting point is the fear of a food crisis at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (2020) because of the absence of migrant workers. The question was raised early in the pandemic if food systems in the Global North are vulnerable due to dependence on precarious migrant workers. In the light of this question, we assess the reactions of farmers and different actors in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to what looked like an unfolding food crisis. In many ways, the reactions in the Nordic countries were similar to each other, and to broader reactions in the Global North, and we follow these reactions as they relate to migrant workers from an initial panic to a return to business as usual despite the continuation of the pandemic. In the end, 2020 proved to be an excellent year for Nordic food production in part because migrant workers were able to come. We discuss reasons why the Nordic countries did not face disruptions during the pandemic, map out patterns of labour precarity and segmentation for migrant labour in agriculture and food production in the Nordic countries and propose questions for further research

Entrance, Exit and Exclusion : Labour Market Flows of Foreign Born Adults in Swedish ‘Divided Cities’

International migrants often achieve subordinate positions in the labour market or are left outside it. On the basis of unique, longitudinal data, this article investigates the socio-economic mobility of the foreign-born adult population in two Swedish cities, 1993–2002. Patterns of entrance, exit and exclusion from the labour market are compared between foreign- and native-born populations, focussing on variations between ‘distressed’ neighbourhoods and surrounding city regions. The results reveal that the foreign-born population experiences high labour turnover, generally with increasing employment stability, but that considerable vulnerability remains. However, surprisingly small differences were found between residents of ‘distressed’ and other neighbourhoods. Consequently, ethnic rather than residential status influenced the employment situation of foreign-born adults in Swedish cities

Entwined ruralities : seasonality, simultaneity and precarity among transnational migrant workers in the wild berry industry

Agrarian industries in rural areas are increasingly relying on seasonal migrant workers, who arrive in transnationally organised settings. This paper focuses on the concept of transnational simultaneity in order to further analyse the dynamics that are sustaining low-wage, seasonal labour migration in transnational social fields. It is suggested that the concepts of seasonal livelihood diversification and biographical simultaneity contribute to explain this process, which is highlighted in relation to the empirical case of Thai wild berry pickers in Sweden. The ability of the workers to co-arrange life in the homeland with work overseas, together with a firmly institutionalised, transnational social network, lay the ground for the Thai-Swedish migration process. It is characterised by high circularity and frequency among the migrant workers, who oscillate on a seasonal basis between multi-sited work places, despite relatively low economic return. It is argued that simultaneity within the transnational social field, which is embedded in seasonal livelihood diversification and prospects of improved futures for their children, lowers the threshold for accepting exploitative work conditions, thus paving the way for precarious migrant work

Intersections of immigrant status and gender in the Swedish entrepreneurial landscape

Labour markets in welfare states are structured along the lines of gender and immigrant & minority statuses. This paper brings novel insights into the issue of ethnic entrepreneurship as a means of sustainable inclusion of immigrants into the labour market by adding a gender dimension. Based on unique longitudinal data, the paper analyses the division of labour and the work incomes of female immigrant entrepreneurs in contrast with male immigrants and native-born Swedes. The results indicate that the division of labour is structured along the lines of both gender and immigrant status. At first glance, a gender perspective on ethnic entrepreneurship acknowledges persistent inequalities in the labour market. Analysis of entrepreneurship within niches such as the health care sector, however, indicates greater complexity in the entrepreneurial landscape. The paper identifies implications of a nuanced analysis of entrepreneurial research, which recognises diversity along the axes of both immigrant status and gender. Entrepreneurial processes can lead to both exclusion and inclusion of minority groups in the labour market, depending on the sector concerned

The Finland-Swedish Wheel of Migration : Identity, Networks and Integration 1976-2000

This dissertation examines the role in the migration process between Sweden and Finland of the Swedish-speaking minority group, the Finland Swedes. The causes underlying migration, as well as the integration of the group in Sweden, constitute the main focuses of the study. It is concluded that Finland Swedes are over-represented in the total migration process from Finland to Sweden. As such, the process is culturally embedded in the group’s ethnic identity, which causes migration both through the practical minority situation in Finland, and through ethnic affinity with Sweden. Further causes include the substantial, circular networks of cultural, social and economic contacts between Sweden and Finland. In the integration process, the transformation of the group’s ethnic identity is the central area of analysis. Initially, the ethnic affinity with Sweden is transformed into strengthened loyalties to Finland. As early as the first generation of migrants, however, the Finland Swedes enter into a process of assimilation in Sweden. The migration process reveals the complex identity construction of the Finland Swedes. The ethnic identity is constituted of relations both towards the Finnish-speaking majority group, and towards Sweden as an extended Swedish-speaking area. The ethnic identity is mediated through national and personal identities, which are linked to both Sweden and Finland. The findings have been produced within the methodological framework of critical realism, using a multiple-method research design. An individually based, statistical data set focused on the extension of the Finland-Swedish migration pattern, whereas an in-depth interview study was used to analyse the deeper causes of migration and integration

Geografiska perspektiv på arbetsmarknadsrörlighet

Rapporten är en översikt över hur rörlighet på arbetsmarknaden har behandlats inom svensk kulturgeografisk forskning. Rapporten ger exempel på geografiska infallsvinklar och empirisk forskning, där en central utgångspunkt är den roll avståndet mellan platser spelar för rörligheten. Såväl extern rörlighet mellan arbetsmarknader i form av migration och pendling, som intern rörlighet mellan arbetsplatser inom samma arbetsmarknad utgör fokus för rapporten. Rapporten visar att migrationsvolymen under 1900-talet har varierat. Under perioden 1960 till 1990 skedde en minskning, men därefter har den ökat igen. Dock råder det delade meningar om huruvida flyttningarna är arbetsmarknadsrelaterade, eftersom även miljö- och sociala skäl anses spela in. Flyttningarna tenderar även att minska jämfört med pendling; istället för att flytta väljer hushåll att utvidga sin restid till arbetet eller att veckopendla. Pendlingsavståndet varierar starkt mellan olika socioekonomiska grupper, där i synnerhet högutbildade och män har lång räckvidd, medan invandrade kvinnor befinner sig i andra ändan av spektret. Både flyttningar och pendling är särskilt vanligt bland unga personer. Mest utbredd är dock den interna rörligheten på arbetsmarknaden, i form av arbetsplatsbyten inom och mellan branscher. Hela 90 procent av alla nyrekryteringar sker inom en lokal arbetsmarknad, vilket ger en fördel till stora arbetsmarknader där utbudet av arbetskraft är stort. Även här är rörligheten högre bland unga personer. Särskilt hög verkar rörligheten vara inom ekonomiska kluster, där arbetsbyten mellan nära relaterade företag inom samma region kan överföra kunskap mellan företag och främja konkurrenskraften. Andra temaområden som rapporten berör är rörlighet i utsatta bostadsområden, rörlighet i samband med strukturomvandlingar, samt prognoser för olika typer av regioner. Rapporten avslutas med förslag på framtida forskningsområden. Det poängteras att studier av arbetsmarknadsrörlighet är i behov av ett helhetsgrepp, där samtliga rörlighetsaspekter beaktas ur ett regionalt perspektiv

Intersections of ethnicity and gender in the Swedish entrepreneurial landscape

Labour markets in welfare states are structured along the lines of gender and immigrant & minority statuses. This paper brings novel insights into the issue of ethnic entrepreneurship as a means of sustainable inclusion of immigrants into the labour market by adding a gender dimension. Based on unique longitudinal data, the paper analyses the division of labour and the work incomes of female immigrant entrepreneurs in contrast with male immigrants and native-born Swedes. The results indicate that the division of labour is structured along the lines of both gender and immigrant status. At first glance, a gender perspective on ethnic entrepreneurship acknowledges persistent inequalities in the labour market. Analysis of entrepreneurship within niches such as the health care sector, however, indicates greater complexity in the entrepreneurial landscape. The paper identifies implications of a nuanced analysis of entrepreneurial research, which recognises diversity along the axes of both immigrant status and gender. Entrepreneurial processes can lead to both exclusion and inclusion of minority groups in the labour market, depending on the sector concerned

Geografiska perspektiv på arbetsmarknadsrörlighet

Rapporten är en översikt över hur rörlighet på arbetsmarknaden har behandlats inom svensk kulturgeografisk forskning. Rapporten ger exempel på geografiska infallsvinklar och empirisk forskning, där en central utgångspunkt är den roll avståndet mellan platser spelar för rörligheten. Såväl extern rörlighet mellan arbetsmarknader i form av migration och pendling, som intern rörlighet mellan arbetsplatser inom samma arbetsmarknad utgör fokus för rapporten. Rapporten visar att migrationsvolymen under 1900-talet har varierat. Under perioden 1960 till 1990 skedde en minskning, men därefter har den ökat igen. Dock råder det delade meningar om huruvida flyttningarna är arbetsmarknadsrelaterade, eftersom även miljö- och sociala skäl anses spela in. Flyttningarna tenderar även att minska jämfört med pendling; istället för att flytta väljer hushåll att utvidga sin restid till arbetet eller att veckopendla. Pendlingsavståndet varierar starkt mellan olika socioekonomiska grupper, där i synnerhet högutbildade och män har lång räckvidd, medan invandrade kvinnor befinner sig i andra ändan av spektret. Både flyttningar och pendling är särskilt vanligt bland unga personer. Mest utbredd är dock den interna rörligheten på arbetsmarknaden, i form av arbetsplatsbyten inom och mellan branscher. Hela 90 procent av alla nyrekryteringar sker inom en lokal arbetsmarknad, vilket ger en fördel till stora arbetsmarknader där utbudet av arbetskraft är stort. Även här är rörligheten högre bland unga personer. Särskilt hög verkar rörligheten vara inom ekonomiska kluster, där arbetsbyten mellan nära relaterade företag inom samma region kan överföra kunskap mellan företag och främja konkurrenskraften. Andra temaområden som rapporten berör är rörlighet i utsatta bostadsområden, rörlighet i samband med strukturomvandlingar, samt prognoser för olika typer av regioner. Rapporten avslutas med förslag på framtida forskningsområden. Det poängteras att studier av arbetsmarknadsrörlighet är i behov av ett helhetsgrepp, där samtliga rörlighetsaspekter beaktas ur ett regionalt perspektiv