Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

From Rags to Riches? Immigration and Poverty in Spain

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article for first time explores the relationship between immigration and poverty in Spain. Using recent Spanish household surveys, it is found, first, that both moderate and severe poverty are more acute among immigrants than among nationals and social transfers play no substantial role in reducing monetary deprivation in the case of foreign-born population; in the second place, we perform an econometric analysis that shows that the different poverty risk faced by local and immigrant households is not driven by differences in basic household and demographic characteristics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Three decades ago, at the height of its intensity, Spain had up to 3 million workers abroad (from a population of 34 millions) and around 10% of imports were financed with their remittances (Oporto del Olmo 1992). The impact of the economic crisis of 1973 in the host countries, and the modernization and development experienced by the Spanish economy since then reduced greatly, almost eliminating, the emigration of Spaniards workers abroad.

  2. The SLC also includes longitudinal data for the period 2004–2007; unfortunately, the panel is rotating and in 2007 there are only a quarter of the households initially surveyed.

  3. Note that immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania, which are two of the most important foreign population groups in Spain, are still included in the immigrant group, as these two countries joined the European Union later.

  4. As it is well-known, the OECD-modified equivalence scale, first proposed by Hagenaars et al. (1994), computes the adult-equivalent household size assigning a value of 1 to the household head, of 0.5 to each additional adult member and of 0.3 to each child aged 14 or less years old.

  5. At this respect, one has to keep in mind that we are not assuming any refined behavioural counterfactual, an approach usually reserved for the analysis of very concrete government interventions. Although this strategy obviously yields non-realistic for the case of pensions (that is, in absence of pensions, it is quite likely that other sorts of familiar or private transfers would operate), it helps to illustrate the central role of pensions in the Spanish Welfare State, as showed in the main body of the article.

  6. These calculations, based on SLC 2004 and national household surveys carried out around 2004, are available on request. See Muñoz de Bustillo and Antón (2007) for details.

References

  • Anastossova, L., & Paligorova, T. (2006). What is behind Native-Immigrant Social Income Gap. Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper 432. Luxembourg: Luxembourg Income Study.

  • Antón, J. I., & Muñoz de Bustillo, R. (2010). Health utilisation and immigration in Spain. European Journal of Health Economics, 11(5), 487–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antón, J. I., Muñoz de Bustillo, R., & Carrera, M. (2010). From guests to hosts: Immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain. International Journal of Manpower, 31(6), 645–659.

  • Blinder, A. S. (1973). Wage discrimination: Reduced form and structural estimates. Journal of Human Resources, 8(4), 436–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blume, K., Gustafsson, B., Pedersen, P., & Verner, M. (2007). At the lower end of the table: Determinants of poverty among immigrants to Denmark and Sweden. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(3), 373–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borjas, G. J., & Trejo, S. J. (1991). Immigrant Participation in the Welfare System. NBER Working Paper 3423. Cambridge, MA: NBER.

  • Bover, O., & Velilla, P. (2005). Migration in Spain: Historical background and current trends. In K. Zimmermann (Ed.), European migration: What do we know? (pp. 389–414). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brücker, H., Epstein, G., McCormick, B., Saint-Paul, G., Venturini, A., & Zimmermann, K. (2002). Welfare state provision. In T. Boeri, G. H. Hanson, & B. McCormick (Eds.), Immigration policy and the welfare system (pp. 66–90). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, C. A., & Trivedi, P. K. (2005). Microeconometrics: Methods and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canal-Domínguez, J. F., & Rodríguez-Gutiérrez, C. (2008). Analysis of wage differences between native and immigrant workers in Spain. Spanish Economic Review, 10(2), 109–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrasco, R., García-Serrano, C., & Malo, M. A. (2003). Mercado de trabajo e inmigración. In A. Izquierdo (dir.), Inmigración: Mercado de Trabajo y Protección Social en España (pp. 183–238). Madrid: Consejo Económico y Social.

  • Carrasco, R., Jimeno, J. F., & Ortega, A. C. (2008). The effect of immigration on the employment opportunities of native-born workers: Some evidence for Spain. Journal of Population Economics, 21(3), 627–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castronova, E. J., Kayser, H., Frick, J. R., & Wagner, G. G. (2001). Immigrants, natives and social assistance: Comparable take-up under comparable circumstances. International Migration Review, 35(3), 726–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS). (2006). Barómetro Septiembre 2006. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, J., & Bernstein, J. (2003). Immigration and poverty: How are they linked? Monthly Labor Review, April, 11–15.

  • Dolado, J. J., Jimeno, J. F., & Duce, R. (1997). Los efectos de la inmigración sobre la demanda relativa de trabajo cualificado vs. poco cualificado: evidencia para España. Cuadernos Económicos del ICE, 63, 11–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. (2006). Perceptions of discrimination and islamophobia. Voices from members of Muslim communities in the European Union. Available via http://eumc.europa.eu/eumc/. Cited 18 August 2010.

  • Fleury, D. (2007). A study of poverty and working poverty among recent immigrants to Canada. Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Final Report. Ottawa: Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

  • Foster, J., Greer, J., & Thorbecke, E. (1984). A class of decomposable poverty measures. Econometrica, 52(3), 761–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway, T. A. (2006). Do immigrants integrate out of poverty in Norway? Discussion Paper 482. Oslo: Statistics Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galloway, T. A., & Aaberge, R. (2005). Assimilation effects on poverty among immigrants in Norway. Journal of Population Economics, 18(4), 691–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomulka, J., & Stern, N. (1990). The employment of married women in the United Kingdom in 1970–83. Economica, 57(226), 171–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González, L., & Ortega, L. (2011). How do very open economies adjust to large immigration flows? Evidence from Spanish regions. Labour Economics, 18(1), 57–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagenaars, A. J. M., De Vos, R., & Zaidi, M. A. (1994). Poverty statistics in the late 1980s. Luxembourg: European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J., & Lofstrom, M. (2003). Immigrant assimilation and welfare participation: Do immigrants assimilate into or out-of welfare? Journal of Human Resources, 38(1), 74–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Quevedo, C., & Jiménez-Rubio, D. (2009). A comparison of the health status and health care utilization patterns between foreigners and the national population in Spain: New evidence from the Spanish National Health Survey. Social Science and Medicine, 69(3), 370–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). (2005). Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida. Metodología. Madrid: Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Available via http://www.ine.es/daco/daco42/condivi/ecv_metodo.pdf. Cited 19 August 2010.

  • Izquierdo, A. (1997). La población extranjera en España. In R. Puyol (Ed.), Dinámica de la Población en España (pp. 217–264). Madrid: Síntesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izquierdo, A., & Martínez Buján, R. (2004). La inmigración en España en 2001. In A. Izquierdo (Dir.), Inmigración: Mercado de Trabajo y Protección Social en España (pp. 99–182). Madrid: Consejo Económico y Social.

  • Kazemipur, A., & Halli, S. S. (2001). Immigrants and ‘new poverty’: The case of Canada. International Migration Review, 35(4), 1129–1156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R. (2003). Happiness: has social science a clue? London: Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures, London School of Economics. March.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ley, D., & Smith, H. (1997). Immigration and poverty in Canadian cities, 1971–1991. Canadian Journal of Regional Science, 20(1–2), 29–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz de Bustillo, R. & Antón, J. I. (2007). Understanding poverty among immigrants in Spain. Paper presented at the 9th World Economy Meeting, Madrid. Available via http://www.uam.es/otros/ixrem. Cited 19 August 2010.

  • Muñoz de Bustillo, R., & Antón, J. I. (2009). Immigration and social benefits in a Mediterranean welfare state: The case of Spain. In C. Richter, C. Caleiro, C. Vieira, & S. Vieira (Eds.), Challenges of economic policy design. Lessons from the financial crisis (pp. 377–414). Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz de Bustillo, R., & Antón, J. I. (2010). De la España que emigra a la España que acoge: contexto, dimensión y características de la inmigración latinoamericana en España. América Latina Hoy, 55, 15–39.

  • Oaxaca, R. L. (1973). Male-female wage differentials in urban labour markets. International Economic Review, 14(3), 693–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oporto del Olmo, A. (1992). Emigración y ahorro en España 1959–1986. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, E., & Smolensky, E. (2009). Immigration and poverty in the United States. American Economic Review. Papers and Proceedings, 44(2), 41–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanromà, E., Ramos, R., & Simón, H. (2009). Immigrant wages and the Spanish labour market: Does the origin of human capital matter? IZA Discussion Paper 4157. Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor.

  • Simón, H., Sanromà, E., & Ramos, R. (2008). Labour segregation and immigrant and native-born wage distributions in Spain: An analysis using matched employer-employee data. Spanish Economic Review, 10(2), 135–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the 9th World Economy Meeting hold in Madrid in April 2007. Very helpful comments from Branko Milanovic on a first draft are gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Economics, University of Salamanca, Facultad de Derecho, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, s/n., 37007, Salamanca, Spain

    Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & José-Ignacio Antón

Authors
  1. Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. José-Ignacio Antón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José-Ignacio Antón.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Muñoz de Bustillo, R., Antón, JI. From Rags to Riches? Immigration and Poverty in Spain. Popul Res Policy Rev 30, 661–676 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-011-9205-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-011-9205-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation