Refugee integration – Evaluation

Accompanying evaluation of labor market programs to integrate refugees

Client: Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Berlin

Project partners: DIW Berlin; Kantar Public, Munich; IAQ - University of Duisburg-Essen; IAW, Tübingen; IAB, Nürnberg; RWI, Essen

Duration: 2017 – 2024

The inflow of refugee migrants in 2015/2016 posed major challenges for the integration of refugees into the German labor market. Against this background, the results of this research project provide scientifically sound answers to the questions of how effective and efficient the central measures of employment promotion in the legal areas of SGB II and SGB III are for persons in the context of refugee migration with regard to their labor market integration and social participation, and which factors, such as language support and individual and local contextual factors, strengthen or inhibit the effectiveness of the measures. The causal analysis of administrative data is complemented by the analysis of survey data and a comprehensive implementation analysis. Overall, the evaluation results are rather positive and the vast majority of the analyzed measures appear both effective and efficient. Nevertheless, a number of policy recommendations can be derived from the empirical findings to design the organization, processes and framework conditions of the labor market integration measures for refugees in such a way that their positive effects can be further strengthened in the future.

Next to to the final report published in September 2021, an interim report was published in June 2020. Prior to this, a pilot study from 2017 had identified the most suitable methods for disclosing the effects of integration measures and their interaction.