The employment of Turkish second generation women in Europe in comparative perspective

Over the next 50 years, population aging will contribute to a dramatic decline in the European working age population. One important question for policy makers is to what extent an increase in labour force participation of migrants, their descendants, and women can compensate for the decline in labour supply. Thus it is relevant to know more about the factors which can encourage participation of these groups. In this report we examine the employment of second generation (children of immigrants) Turkish and young adult women from the majority population. We focus on the Turkish group since it is the largest single origin country group who also settled in different European countries allowing for examining differences among the second generation across countries of residence by using unique data allowing for this for the first time. This report covers four European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden) in which the largest share of the total Turkish population in Europe live. We give special attention to the effect of motherhood on employment. Our findings show that policy and institutions matter for the employment of all women in society, irrespective of migrant origin. Still, levels of employment are lower for the Turkish second generation compared to women from the majority group in all countries. Being a mother has a negative impact on employment, but we do not find this association to vary by origin. Furthermore we find clear differences across the countries studied but again these differences are similar for women of the majority population and those of Turkish origin. Although we are unable to pinpoint the exact policies and institutional arrangements it seems to be the case that these are related to policies across the life course starting from educational to family policies. Findings make clear that policymakers must give special attention to the unique economic position and potential of women in general and the growing share of children of immigrants among them, whose employment behaviours will be essential to bolstering the European labour force in the future.