Introduction: Since the 2015/16 refugee influx to Germany and other
European countries, these host societies have been challenged with the
integration of culturally distant refugees. These recent arrivals can strategically
invest their time in activities promoting their integration, thereby rendering
time use as a channel of integration. Refugees are a vulnerable group that
differs from other immigrants with respect to their migration motivation,
experience, and conditions in the receiving countries. Accordingly, refugees
might also differ from other immigrants with respect to their time use. This
might play a role in explaining differences in refugees’ and other immigrants’
integration outcomes.
Methods: Using a cluster analysis approach, this contribution (1) descriptively
examines whether and to what extent refugees’ time use differs from that
of other immigrants and the host-country population in Germany and (2)
examines the role of refugees’ legal status for their time use. The study
examines time allocation to different activities of refugees, other first-
generation immigrants, and native Germans, using data collected from 2016
to 2019 of the German Socio-Economic Panel, including the IAB-BAMF-SOEP
Survey of Refugees and the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample.
Results and discussion: Results from (1) the cluster analysis approach
show different clusters of time use patterns for the three population groups
of refugees, other immigrants, and natives. For native Germans and other
immigrants, the dominant time use cluster is characterized by full-time
investment in employment activities. For refugees, the dominant time use
pattern is characterized by low overall invested hours to the measured activities
(low activity cluster). In contrast to the other two groups, a cluster of refugees
predominantly allocating their time to employment activities is not found.
Pooled analyses (2) of the role of refugees’ legal status show some evidence
that those who have a form of protection status, in comparison to those who
have asylum seeker status, have a lower probability to display childcare- and
household-related activities than to report low activity. However, fixed effects
analyses show that refugees receiving a positive decision on their asylum
application do not change with respect to their time use patterns.
