Employment patterns of female migrant workers

It has proved difficult in practice for female immigrants living in Greece to acquire and renew residence permits, according to a study by the Greek General Confederation of Labour/Confederation of Public Servants. The main reasons for this are the requirements of the country’s statutory framework governing immigration and the fact that female immigrants are largely employed in sectors where undeclared work is widespread.

Methodology

A recent study on female immigration and employment patterns has been carried out by the Greek General Confederation of Labour/Confederation of Public Servants (INE-GSEE/ADEDY). As regards the quantitative aspect of the research, the data were derived from processing a secondary analysis of the National Statistical Service of Greece (Εθνική Στατιστική Υπηρεσία της Ελλάδος, ESYE) labour force surveys (LFS) for 2001–2005. Some results of the 2001 population census were also used for comparative purposes. In parallel, through a critical evaluation of the statutory framework on immigration, useful conclusions were drawn, both on immigrants’ working life and also on their social inclusion in Greek society more generally.

Main findings

The study reached five basic conclusions:

• In Greece, recent incoming migration has been characterised by a high presence of women. Most of these women come from Albania (44.8%), Bulgaria (10.7%), Ukraine (5.1%), Georgia (4.6%) and Romania (3.8%). About three quarters of migrant women originate from non-EU countries. The main reasons for their movement are economic in nature. In particular, according to data from the 2001 census, 45.5% of immigrants in Greece are women: 49% of them stated that they settled in the country for the purpose of seeking work, while only 15% moved to reunite with their family.

• The employment rate for all female immigrants is higher than the rate for all Greek women. Thus, the 2001 census data reveal that employed female immigrants constitute 34.9% of all female immigrants, whereas the corresponding figure for Greek women of all ages amounts to 26.7%.

• Female immigrants mostly work in specific economic sectors. According to LFS data for the second quarter of 2005, these sectors included the following: private households, where 48.5% of Greece’s female immigrants are employed; hotels and restaurants (16% of female migrants); wholesale and retail trade (10%); manufacturing industries (8%); and health and social welfare (7.5%). Overall, while female immigrants represent just 6.5% of all employed women in Greece and 6.3% of all women in the country, in the private households sector they represent 67% of women employed.

• Employment opportunities, as well as the ability of female immigrants to be integrated into the labour market – particularly in certain occupations – have proved to be significantly high in recent times. Thus, in the last five years, the number of employed female immigrants almost doubled, from 58,527 persons in 2001 to 106,791 persons in 2005, in fact representing an 82.5% increase in their employment rate. The number of employed Greek women also increased from 2001 to 2005, but only by 7.3%.

• Finally, the research results confirm the comparative findings of Eurostat, according to which Greece constitutes an important exception in relation to the EU15 Member States – in the sense that immigrants’ proportion of the unemployed population is smaller than their share in the labour force. More specifically, the country’s female immigrants represent 6.3% of the female labour force, but only 5.8% of unemployed women.

The study also notes that, taken as a whole, demographic studies in Greece have shown that, on the one hand, 97.1% of the net increase in the country’s population in the 1991–2001 period was due to immigration and, on the other hand, that this increase was due in particular to children born to foreign mothers.

Legal residence issues

As a result of the overall conditions set by the statutory framework governing the issuance and renewal of immigrants’ residence permits (GR0703019I), the majority of female immigrants are living in the country unofficially. This is mainly because, according to the current legal conditions, female immigrants must provide proof of 200 or 150 days of paid social insurance per year, depending on whether they are employed by one or more employers. However, it is the employer’s rather than the employee’s responsibility to declare the number of insurance days to the relevant insurer. Therefore, female immigrants who work in sectors where undeclared work is particularly widespread are not able to ensure that their employers meet their insurance obligations, and ultimately find it difficult or impossible to accumulate the required number of insurance days.

Commentary

This INE/GSEE-ADEDY study highlights the difficulties associated with the social inclusion of female immigrants in Greece. These difficulties are largely linked to rigidity and inflexibility in the statutory framework.

Reference

Apostolos, K., Female immigrants and employment in Greece, Enimerossi, No. 131, September 2006, Athens, p. 821.

The study (in Greek) is available on the INE/GSEE-ADEDY website.

Kapsalis Apostolos, INE/GSEE-ADEDY