Journal Articles

Earned Citizenship: Labour Migrants’ Views on the Welfare State

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In policy and research, migration and the welfare state are often seen as being at odds.
When ‘strangers’ enter the welfare state, the financial and social foundations of solidarity
are said to crumble. A prominent question, therefore, is whether immigrants should have
the same rights as the autochthonous population. Within this frame, migrants are often
‘objects’. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring what different types of labour
migrants themselves think about the Dutch welfare state in general, and about giving social
rights to immigrants, in particular. The differences in national backgrounds and levels of
education in labour migrants’ views are striking: lower-educated Turkish and Polish
migrants show little interest in the welfare state, whereas higher-educated Western
Europeans seek welfare state security. Higher-educated Indian migrants find the welfare
state a totally new concept, although after a while some come to appreciate it. A significant
proportion of the questioned migrants, moreover, believe that people should not be
entitled to welfare state rights immediately upon arrival. They favour ‘earned citizenship’,
with the welfare state being a ‘contribution state’, but stress that migrants should not have
to wait too long before being entitled to such rights. The paper also suggests new topics for
further research in the increasingly important field of migration, diversity and the welfare
state.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Journal of Social Policy

Call Number

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Publisher

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press., 2016

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0047-2794

Classification

NONE

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 45 - Issue 3 - July 2016, pp. 395-415 Abstr

Subject(s)

welfare state
Research
Labour
Migrants

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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