Abstract

The study aims to explore whether gendered family roles in the country of origin and the country of destination explain labor market outcomes for immigrants in Sweden. We examine the assumptions of the source country culture literature—that traditional gender norms in immigrants’ source countries drive women’s employment in the new country—by focusing on gender differences and exploring group- and individual-level mechanisms, notably, that of care responsibilities. Using Swedish register data, comprising more than 660 000 individuals from 110 source countries, we analyze the labor market establishment of immigrant women and men in 2016 with multi-level regressions. Findings show that the gender gap in employment is significantly larger among groups from countries with low female labor force participation. Much of this gap is explained by women’s care responsibilities, both at arrival and through continued fertility after arrival. Thus, even in Sweden, with longstanding policies promoting female employment, immigrant women’s employment is conditioned by the gender-traditionality of their source countries. The findings question the gender-equalizing power of welfare state institutions in the face of increasing immigration. However, education crucially affects the implications of cultural background and fertility. In future research, these mechanisms—including the group-level correlations—should be further explored to better pinpoint the obstacles facing women from traditional countries.

摘要

该研究旨在探讨原籍国和目的地国的性别家庭角色是否解释了瑞典移民的劳动力市场结果。我们通过关注性别差异并探索群体和个人层面的机制，特别是护理责任机制，检验了来源国文化文献的假设——移民来源国的传统性别规范推动了新国家的女性就业。我们使用瑞典登记数据，包括来自 110 个来源国的 66 万多人，我们通过多层次回归分析了 2016 年移民女性和男性劳动力市场的建立。调查结果表明，女性劳动力参与率低的国家的群体在就业方面的性别差距明显更大。这种差距的大部分原因是女性在抵达时的护理责任以及抵达后的持续生育能力。因此，即使在长期政策促进女性就业的瑞典，移民女性的就业也受到其来源国性别传统的制约。调查结果质疑福利国家机构在移民增加的情况下的性别平等权力。然而，教育对文化背景和生育能力的影响至关重要。在未来的研究中，应进一步探索这些机制——包括群体层面的相关性——以更好地查明传统国家女性面临的障碍。移民妇女的就业取决于其来源国的性别传统。调查结果质疑福利国家机构在移民增加的情况下的性别平等权力。然而，教育对文化背景和生育能力的影响至关重要。在未来的研究中，应进一步探索这些机制——包括群体层面的相关性——以更好地查明传统国家女性面临的障碍。移民妇女的就业取决于其来源国的性别传统。调查结果质疑福利国家机构在移民增加的情况下的性别平等权力。然而，教育对文化背景和生育能力的影响至关重要。在未来的研究中，应进一步探索这些机制——包括群体层面的相关性——以更好地查明传统国家女性面临的障碍。