Integration of Migrant Women in the EU and Norway: Policies and Measures

Abstract

This study focuses on the integration of migrant women in the main sectorial areas covered by the EU Action plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027 including education and training, employment and skills, health and housing as the base for societal integration. While the term ‘integration’ is contested and other terms such as ‘inclusion’ are increasingly preferred in policy, in this study the term ‘integration’ is used deliberately to refer to integration and inclusion policies and measures addressing migrant women. In the EU, women account for almost half of the migrants from third countries (10.6 million or 49% of the migrant stock on 1 January 2020). Women, like men, migrate to Europe for a variety of reasons.4 Women may arrive as family migrants, labour migrants, students, asylum applicants or belonging to another group of migrants. This is reflected in the diversity of legal statuses and rights among migrant women. Migrant women’s integration challenges differ depending on their resident status or reason for migration. Recent studies show that migrant women face a so-called “double disadvantage”, due to the intersection of being a woman and being a migrant. For example, migrant women in the EU generally have a higher unemployment rate than both non-migrant women and migrant men. For those women with young children, the employment rate is significantly lower for migrant than non-migrant women. Moreover, refugee women are worse off when it comes to education or employment compared to other migrant women, pointing to a “triple disadvantage”