Economic Progress and Social Cohesion for Migrants from Turkey and their Descendents in Sweden : in Light of EU Accession and Potential Migration Processes from Turkey

Individuals with an origin from Turkey are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the EU. Against the backdrop of aging populations of the EU and the possible EU membership of Turkey, studying the current progress and challenges for this group is of interest. Using high quality register data from Statistics Sweden, this paper analyzes labor market and marriage market behavior of individuals with a background from Turkey both over time and over generations in comparison to their counterparts from the European Union as well as the Middle East. The analysis shows that especially the second generation from Turkey is characterized by progress in employment patterns over time and a declining gender gap. After controlling for human capital and demographic characteristics, as well as time trends, we find that second generation individuals from Turkey are more likely to be employed when compared to their counterparts from the New 10 EU member states, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as those from the Middle East. However, they are less likely to intermarry when compared to other groups. Further analysis indicate that individual characteristics are more important in explaining the observed gaps for the second generation when compared to the first generation