this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
48 points (100.0% liked)

Europe

6944 readers
969 users here now

News and information from Europe 🇪🇺

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media. Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
federalreverse@feddit.org
poVoq@slrpnk.net
anzo@programming.dev
EuroMod@feddit.org
48
Job opportunities are more important to refugees from Ukraine than social benefits, a survey over Ukrainians in Europe finds (www.ifo.de)
submitted 4 days ago by Scotty@scribe.disroot.org to c/europe@feddit.org
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Ukrainian refugees prefer countries with better job opportunities to countries with higher social benefits. This is the finding of a recent study by the ifo Institute, which surveyed over 3,300 Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

“The prospect of a job that matches their qualifications and a higher wage level has a much stronger effect on refugees than social assistance or child benefits,” says Panu Poutvaara, Director of the ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics. “We see that wage differences play an almost four times greater role in the choice of destination country of Ukrainian refugees than differences in social benefits. That, of course, does not mean that social benefits play no role at all.”

[...]

Job opportunities and higher wages are decisive factors also to refugees who are currently unemployed. They apparently plan to enter the labor market in the future. In addition, friends or family in the destination country are 8.5 percentage points more important than immediate geographical proximity to Ukraine. Intentions to return also play a role. Refugees who plan to settle outside Ukraine in the long term prefer countries further away with economic advantages over countries where family and friends are located.

“Understanding why refugees choose certain countries is crucial for designing appropriate policies nationally and internationally,” says Yvonne Giesing, Deputy Director of the ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics. One example of this is the debate about cutting social benefits to make fleeing to certain countries less attractive. However, the study shows that higher wages and easier access to suitable jobs are a greater incentive for refugees than social benefits. Therefore, cuts in social benefits are likely to have little effect. “Cutting government aid could also have a negative impact on integration in the long term,” says Giesing.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What is "Eastern European programming" and what has this survey to do with "voting for austerity"?

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 0 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

By Eastern European programming in this case I'm referring to a set of politoeconomic beliefs held by a chunk of Eastern Europeans, informed by the Eastern European reality of the last few decades. The beliefs I'm referring to tend to be informed by the free market propaganda which came along with the economic shock therapy implemented in most Eastern bloc countries post 1989. For example economic individualism which entails that everyone deserves what they get in the economy. The winners worked to win, the losers are lazy moochers. Which means one should rely on themselves, and not on others and therefore not on the state and its welfare programs. It follows that jobs are much more important than welfare systems for one's wellbeing. Since the wages made from jobs are often in opposition to welfare programs, that is better welfare means lower take-home wages via higher taxes, people who prioritize the importance of their wages tend to vote for lower taxes or welfare cuts, or both, in other words - austerity.

[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I don't know where you have got this, but do yourself a favour and stay away.

This survey says that job opportunities are more important to refugees from Ukraine than social benefits, and it means that job opportunities are more important to refugees from Ukraine than social benefits. Nothing else.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I didn't imply this survey specifically means something else. I'm saying the fact revealed by this survey doesn't exist in vacuum and I think there are relationships between this and other parts of reality. If you'd like it to be in vacuum and believe it is and it isn't connected to anything else - that's alright. I personally don't think that's realistic and I think it speaks to other bits of anecdata (and data) I am aware of. I made a good faith attempt to briefly explain the relationships I see. It's also totally normal to disagree with my hypothesis. No concrete evidence has been presented. At the same time absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

Also it's difficult to stay away from my experiences, friends, family and community. 😄

E: Oh in case you think I'm suggesting someone should gatekeep immigrants based on their politoeconomic beliefs, that's not at all what I would ever advocate for, and definitey not the only possibility. Rather I would think along the lines of educating immigrants to states with welfare systems on the importance of these systems and why it's a good idea to pay for them.