The role of family in determining life course trajectories for those who arrived in Sweden as refugees

Sweden continues to receive large numbers of refugees and there is growing interest in their integration.

However, despite what we know about this topic, prior research usually studies refugees as individuals, ignoring the role of family in determining integration after arrival.

Studies have tended to focus on family as a reason for migration, rather than the explicit role of family members and their presence or absence in the new destination.

The aim of this project is to address this gap by carrying out a comprehensive study of the role of family in determining refugee integration.

To do this, we propose a four-year project using quantitative methods to analyse register data for refugees and the entire Swedish population (1990-2022).

We will analyse how three domains of refugee integration—work, health, and living conditions—are impacted by: (1) the presence of family members on arrival in Sweden, (2) family reunification, (3) family formation after arrival, and (4) the separation or loss of family members after arrival.

Our project is of national and international interest, not only due to growing interest in refugee integration but also because this research could not be carried out in most other contexts, mainly due to data limitations.

We will therefore take advantage of unique Swedish register data to take a broader view of refugee integration and develop insights that we hope will benefit academics, policymakers, and the general public.