Prosperity of Status Holders

Prosperity of status holders leads to economic growth

The Welfare project focuses on the employment of refugees with refugee status. This group is underrepresented in the Netherlands in terms of labor participation. How can public professionals appropriately support refugees with refugee status into employment?

Information about the project

Status Duration Financing Project leader and principal investigator Project feature
Starting January 2025 Sep 01 January 2025 t/m June 2025 not yet finalized! Said El Amraoui 4W 2024

Project goal

In this project, we aim to equip future and existing public sector professionals to appropriately support refugees into sustainable employment through knowledge development, practice improvement, and educational innovation. Together with all relevant practical partners and refugees with experience, we will exchange knowledge and experience on supporting refugees. These practical partners will then apply these new insights in practice. Various meetings will be held to exchange and deepen the insights gained, resulting in an improved repertoire of actions. Our shared ambition is to increase the social impact on the labor market participation of refugees. In doing so, we align with the objectives of the new Civic Integration Act and the Participation Act, and we will work on fair opportunities for refugees to participate in society appropriately and sustainably.

The research: Well-being of status holders

4W Formula: Welcome, Guidance, Wellbeing and Prosperity

  • Research design

    The research takes place within learning networks, where researchers, public professionals, refugees with experiential knowledge, employers and practitioners from related fields, and students from various programs collaborate and learn together. By working in learning networks, we enhance the learning capacity of all involved, generate knowledge and insights, and create a network focused on the participation of refugees. We utilize the vision, knowledge, and experience of network learning from the Dutch Association of Refugees (Statushouders Nederland). Insights from this research will be applied to higher professional education (HBO) and vocational education (MBO).

  • Central research question

  • The labor participation rate of refugees with refugee status in the Netherlands is low. This makes this group socially and economically vulnerable and hinders integration into Dutch society. Having decent and suitable work contributes to economic independence, but also to personal development, social connections, health, well-being, and prosperity. This is important for both the individual and society. The central question in this research is how public professionals can appropriately support refugees with refugee status towards sustainable employment. Practical questions include:
  • How can you gain a clear understanding of the qualities and motivations of refugees with regard to work?
  • How can you best support refugees with employment?
  • How can you create optimal conditions for supporting refugees with employment within your own organization and in collaboration with others?

 

Under the new integration system, which takes effect on January 1, 2022, municipalities will have a greater role in supporting male and female refugees. A large proportion of these women come to the Netherlands for family reunification with a partner who previously fled to the Netherlands. Under the new system, those who settle in the Netherlands for family reunification will also be eligible for the full integration program. The number of female refugees receiving support from public professionals is expected to increase significantly. Previous research (Dagevos et al., 2018) clearly shows that women's labor participation is very difficult to achieve compared to men's. Participation in the labor market not only contributes to economic independence but also accelerates the process of social and emotional integration in the Netherlands, which in turn has positive consequences for the personal development, (mental) health, and general well-being and prosperity of refugees (De Bell, 2020). Female refugees are by no means a homogeneous group, and there is often insufficient insight into the specific situations of this group (Statistics Netherlands, 2018) and how public professionals can connect with this to identify the motivations, strengths, and perceived obstacles of women. The reluctance of public professionals to act also plays a role in this.

Although work ethic is high, female refugees, unlike male refugees, often lack a clear work identity. In the countries of origin of female refugees, it is less common for women to be employed. Consequently, many female refugees lack a clear vision of their capabilities, desires, and rights in the Dutch labor market (Verloove & de Vries, 2020). Moreover, female refugees often have little or no education and no (paid) work experience in their home country to draw on. Because these women have only recently arrived in the Netherlands, they speak little or no Dutch and lack a social network (Stavenuiter et al., 2020) that could be important for forming a picture of the Dutch labor market or for finding work.

Customers

567

Towns

18

Male status holders

92%

Female status holders

8%