According to a dedicated Eurostat survey in 2014, 58.4% of people who have been granted asylum in France work there. This share increases to 64.5% for refugees who have been living there for 10 years or more, underlines Philippe Legrain, associate researcher at the London School of Economics and founder of the think tank Open.
In 2016, the overall employment rate of immigrant populations in the OECD was 67.4%, compared to 55.3% in France, at the bottom of the ranking alongside Spain and Belgium.
The issue of employment is all the more sensitive as expert reports, notably the latest from the OECD in 2017, highlight its crucial nature for integration.
“We can do lots of French lessons and vocational training, but if there are no opportunities on the labor market for refugees, it’s a waste,” notes Philippe Legrain.
In a 2016 report, he estimates, based on data from the International Monetary Fund, that investing one euro in the reception and training of refugees can generate two euros in economic dividends in 5 years.
If the employers are favorable to the integration of this new workforce – the president of the Medef Pierre Gattaz qualified the refugees in December as “good economic news” on France Inter – the unions underline their vulnerability, in particular for the foreigners without a residence permit.
Thank you, Julie Carriat. Read the original article.