Denmark’s 'non-Western' immigrants triple parents’ earnings
The children of people who immigrated to Denmark from non-Western countries earn three times as much as their parents, figures from Statistics Denmark, released on Monday, show.
While a higher income for 30-39 year-olds compared to their parents at the same age is common, the difference is significantly steeper for persons whose parents are immigrants from outside of Europe and other Western countries, the agency said in a press release.
A study by the Statistics agency found that the median income of 30-39 year-old male children of non-Western immigrants in 2022 was 375,800 kroner. Their fathers, at the same age, had a median income of 114,300 kroner.
For males of the same age with Danish heritage, the median incomes are 430,900 kroner (2022 group) compared to 374,600 (fathers).
“The median income has increased more among children of immigrants than for persons of Danish heritage – in relation to their fathers. But at the same time, the median income in 2022 is higher among men of Danish heritage then children of immigrants from non-Western countries,” the author of the study, Magnus Nørtoft, said in the statement.
Over half of mothers of the immigrant children had no income in the years included in the study. That means that the median income for the mothers was 0 kroner, while it was 318,000 kroner for their daughters in 2022.
The analysis primarily focuses on male immigrants due to the difficulty to the analysis presented by low employment by mothers during the relevant, years, Statistics Denmark writes.
A relatively large proportion of the fathers in the immigrant group were also not employed at the time relevant to the study, which explains the low median wage for this group.
A chart comparing the median incomes between mothers and daughters (left) and sons and fathers (right) between Danish (green) and non-Western immigrant (blue) people in Denmark. Graphic: Statistics Denmark
Statistics Denmark, as well as many authorities and public agencies in Denmark categorise people considered not of Danish heritage into two groups: ‘immigrants’ and ‘descendants’ of immigrants (‘efterkommere’).
A person is considered to be Danish if she or he has at least one parent who is a Danish citizen and was born in Denmark. People defined as ‘immigrants’ and ‘descendants' do not fulfil those criteria. The difference between the two is that an ‘immigrant’ was born outside of Denmark, while a ‘descendant' was born in Denmark.
Meanwhile, all EU countries along with Andorra, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Vatican are considered ‘Western’.
Everywhere else – all of Latin America, Africa and Asia – is ‘non-Western’.
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While a higher income for 30-39 year-olds compared to their parents at the same age is common, the difference is significantly steeper for persons whose parents are immigrants from outside of Europe and other Western countries, the agency said in a press release.
A study by the Statistics agency found that the median income of 30-39 year-old male children of non-Western immigrants in 2022 was 375,800 kroner. Their fathers, at the same age, had a median income of 114,300 kroner.
For males of the same age with Danish heritage, the median incomes are 430,900 kroner (2022 group) compared to 374,600 (fathers).
“The median income has increased more among children of immigrants than for persons of Danish heritage – in relation to their fathers. But at the same time, the median income in 2022 is higher among men of Danish heritage then children of immigrants from non-Western countries,” the author of the study, Magnus Nørtoft, said in the statement.
Over half of mothers of the immigrant children had no income in the years included in the study. That means that the median income for the mothers was 0 kroner, while it was 318,000 kroner for their daughters in 2022.
The analysis primarily focuses on male immigrants due to the difficulty to the analysis presented by low employment by mothers during the relevant, years, Statistics Denmark writes.
A relatively large proportion of the fathers in the immigrant group were also not employed at the time relevant to the study, which explains the low median wage for this group.
Statistics Denmark, as well as many authorities and public agencies in Denmark categorise people considered not of Danish heritage into two groups: ‘immigrants’ and ‘descendants’ of immigrants (‘efterkommere’).
A person is considered to be Danish if she or he has at least one parent who is a Danish citizen and was born in Denmark. People defined as ‘immigrants’ and ‘descendants' do not fulfil those criteria. The difference between the two is that an ‘immigrant’ was born outside of Denmark, while a ‘descendant' was born in Denmark.
Meanwhile, all EU countries along with Andorra, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Vatican are considered ‘Western’.
Everywhere else – all of Latin America, Africa and Asia – is ‘non-Western’.
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