Does parental origin reflect the labor market outcome? : Study of differences between native Swedes and second generation immigrants

Abstract: Sweden is a country with an increasing foreign born population, where more and more people growing up with two parents born outside of Sweden. In this paper I examine the different labor market outcome for native Swedes and the six largest groups of second generation immigrants in the ages 30-39 years. The analysis is divided in two part where the first examining the level of gainful employment and the second the distribution in line of work. By using data from population register there was possible to perform detailed analysis. The gainfully employment rate are lower for the different groups of second generation immigrants. Unlike earlier studies regarding employment differences depending on parental origin, there are however not as distinct pattern of ethnic penalties. The result regarding line of work from the second part of the analysis show that some groups of second generation have a higher risk of being in less-qualified jobs after controlling for education, personal- and parental variables.