It takes on average five to ten years for a refugee to find work in the Nordic countries. As social inclusion is closely linked to successful labour market integration, and as during this period the refugee represents a cost to society, the question of how to ensure access to the labour market has been a prominent issue on the political agenda. Since the countries show both differences and similarities in their migration policies and practical solutions, the question is how we can learn from each other.
In 2016 the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated a co-operation programme designed to support the national efforts on integration of refugees and immigrants. The Nordic Welfare Centre has the overall responsibility for the main project “Nordic collaboration on integration of refugees and migrants” in close collaboration with Nordregio.
The aim of the project is to serve as an idea bank on the integration area, to map out existing knowledge and research, and to expand our common knowledge base on integration. This report was produced by Nordregio on behalf of the Nordic Welfare Centre and is the result of a comparative study of policies and measures in place in the countries for achieving more efficient labour market integration of refugees. A short version of the report is also available as a policy brief (in Swedish).
Read more about the Nordic integration project at www.integrationnorden.org
