Employment chances and changes of immigrants in Belgium: the impact of citizenship

This paper looks at the impact of citizenship acquisition on the labour market positions of immigrants in Belgium. Citizenship is open to all immigrants with a sufficient period of legal residence, without any language or integration requirements. In that respect, this study is an important complement to existing studies which have mostly focused on countries with comparatively stricter acquisition rules. Based on Labour Force Survey data for 2008, this study uses probit regression to estimate static and dynamic employment probabilities and unemployment risks. We find that citizenship acquisition is associated with better labour market outcomes for non-Western immigrants in general. This effect remains after controlling for years of residence since migration, indicating the existence of a citizenship premium in Belgium...
Access to host-country citizenship is often seen as an important element in the integration process. Belgium has still one of the most liberal citizenship acquisition rules in Europe, though recently legislative proposals have been put forward to restrict access to Belgian citizenship (Geddes and Niessen, 2007; OECD, 2010)... Besides this discretionary process, legal residents with at least seven years  of residence have the unconditional right to acquire citizenship (Geddes  and Niessen, 2007). Given this easy access to Belgian citizenship, the share of Belgian citizens in the foreign-born population has increased considerably over the last decade. Whereas in 1993 more than 90% of all foreign born individuals living in Belgium had maintained their foreign citizenship, this has dropped to approximately two thirds in 2008...  Read more