Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 113

Arctic Yearbook 2014 113   Couples residing in one household were considered to be a couple even though marriage was not necessarily registered. According to the study design, an individual was observed only if she had at least one child 0–18 years of age. The proportion of single immigrant mothers was quite high in all groups and exceeded 60% among women originating from Central and Southern Africa and Southern Europe (Appendix A1). The proportion of immigrant women married to an immigrant partner was about 50% or greater among “refugee” groups, except those from Central and Southern Africa. The latter groups were characterized by a lower proportion of those married to Swedishborn men, which ranged from 3% to 12%. Women from Finland and Denmark had approximately equal proportions of those married to Swedes and partners from “the other” countries. There were greater proportions of mixed couples among immigrants originating from Norway and Iceland, Asia, and the former Soviet Union. Labour Market Outcomes Labour immigrants were defined as having earnings at the year of immigration. The proportion of labour immigrants was relatively low except for women originating from European countries, and about 30% of that group had earnings during the year of their immigration (Appendix A1). Figure 3: The proportion of women in each municipality having earnings from employment or self-employment among Swedish-born (left) and immigrant women (right). Panel data 1995–2009. There were large differences in LFP between the country groups. The lowest proportions were observed among women from countries in the “refugee” group (40%–55%), and the highest participation (91%) was seen for Swedish-born women. The employment rate among migrants originating from the Nordic countries and Poland was 75%, and it ranged from 55% to 75% in the Labour Market Outcomes of Migrant Women in Västerbotten & Norrbotten