Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State

Abstract

This dissertation aims to reconcile the persistence of ethnic inequalities in expansive welfare state regimes. I argue that, in response to changes in labor demand and patterns of job polarization that have followed the transition to a knowledge economy, social investment policies have been reoriented to promote immigrant and minority employment rather than support upward mobility and expand equal access to job opportunities. I draw on panel surveys, administrative data, interviews, and archival documents to show how 'segmented' policy interventions in Finland and Germany invest in sector-specific and linguistic skills at the cost of expanding immigrant and minority access to the socio-cultural resources that are critical for upward mobility in the knowledge economy, including valuable social networks and strong interactive skills. I compare these initiatives to social investment policies pursued by the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s, which, in combination with anti-discrimination legislation, more effectively equalized access to opportunities among majorities and minorities. Finally, I argue that while contemporary approaches to social policy are in part a response to job polarization and labor shortages, they are also the product of a political context wherein policymakers are incentivized to prioritize majority preferences and access to opportunities over those of immigrant and minority groups.

After describing occupational changes in Europe between 1950-2020 (chapter 1) and building my theoretical framework (chapter 2), I present the case studies (chapters 3 - 5): Finland, Germany, and the UK, representing social democratic, conservative, and liberal welfare states, respectively. Each country has experienced job polarization, and, notwithstanding varying degrees of liberalization and dualization, each welfare state has responded with social policies that reflect the priorities and interests embedded in its political economy. Yet, as the chapters reveal, cross-national patterns in ethnic inequality do not align with the predictions of prevailing frameworks in comparative political economy. Majority-minority inequalities in upward mobility and access to opportunities are especially pronounced in Finland—a champion of social investment—at middling levels in Germany, and comparatively low in the UK. In exploring cross-national variation in ethnic inequality, then, this dissertation aims to explain how the interaction of immigration histories, structural changes, and welfare states shape mobility prospects for immigrants and their children across Europe.