This new working paper from the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), a state-owned research institute, studies the economic and social integration of refugee children.

The study examines the integration of war refugees who arrived in Sweden from former Yugoslavia during the early 1990s, tracking their progress over a span of up to 25 years. The study reveals robust strides in educational and economic integration, though variations arise what it comes to such factors as age at migration and gender. Conversely, there is evident segregation in the realm of family formation.

Among those who migrated under the age of 7, academic performance and high school completion rates were comparable to those of their native peers. However, older teenage refugees faced initial academic challenges that were, in part, offset by educational pursuits at later stages. By 2019, women demonstrated substantial assimilation into the labor market, with minimal disparity remaining between native and refugee women, while a slight gap persisted among men.

Remarkably, refugees who arrived prior to commencing formal schooling outperformed their native counterparts academically.

Over time, residential and workplace segregation saw a decline, although it remained pronounced among those lacking tertiary education.