Integrating into the Swedish Labour Market as an Immigrant Lone Mother

Abstract: This thesis aims to investigate the experiences of immigrant lone mothers’ integration into the Swedish labour market. The study is situated against a background where immigrants and lone mothers are two groups that experience difficulties on the labour market, but where there have been few studies that have explored how immigrant lone mothers experience their labour market integration as both immigrants and lone mothers. Through the use of interviews, this thesis seeks to answer questions regarding the experiences of these women and if they have any strategies that help to facilitate labour market integration. The situation of these women has been examined through an intersectional perspective, with the addition of theories of cultural, social, and human capital when examining difficulties in entering the labour market. A thematic analysis has been used for examining the empirical data. The interviews showed that most of the immigrant women in this sample had experienced some difficulties in integrating into the labour market, due to being immigrants and lone mothers. It was seen that many of the interviewees lack social connections that could facilitate employment, but that the lack of social connections was also a problem once an employment was obtained, as the women did not have a lot of support to care for the children when they were at work. In that sense, the women had difficulties combining work and family as they were not able to work certain hours, due to having the main care responsibility for their children. It was also seen that the organisation of society in Sweden is favourable for dual-earner households which puts lone mothers into a disadvantaged position.