Matters of international migration, future labour requirements and the integration of new immigrants and later generations of migrants have strongly dominated the public discussion over the last few years and are likely to constitute challenges for the future, both in the short- and long-term perspective. Within the framework of its general research mandate, IAB critically examines the various aspects of migration and integration in a manner that transcends the work of individual disciplines.
At the present time, analysis is concentrating on ways of improving access to the labour market and labour market integration for migrants and those with a migrant background. Further important topics to be dealt with in the near future are the connection between the demand for manpower and the demand for immigration; aspects and the effects of movements of highly qualified persons within the international context; and the impacts of labour market policy in general and of specific labour market policy measures on migrants or those with a migrant background.
Read moreJuly 2, 2026 | Migration and Integration
Applying for a residence permit, having foreign qualifications recognised, or acquiring German citizenship: people who have moved to Germany often face lengthy bureaucratic processes. Current survey ...read more
Read moreSince the start of the war, around one million people have fled from Ukraine to Germany. Mostly women with children. A study based on interviews with 3,400 refugees shows that Ukrainian women enter ...read more
Read moreFebruary 9, 2026 | Migration and Integration
Professor Yuliya Kosyakova sums up her new data findings in this video: for many immigrants Germany is just a stopover. Why do so many plan to leave and what could make them stay? Politics, taxes, ...read more
Read moreJuly 31, 2025 | Labour Market Policy
In the public debate in Germany, it is often assumed that it is financially more attractive for migrants and refugees to remain on mean-tested benefits for unemployed people than to work. On the ...read more
Read moreAugust 7, 2024 | Interviews
Since the start of the war on 24 February 2022, more than six million Ukrainians have sought refuge outside their homeland – and Europe has been their main destination. In the IAB Research Report ...read more
Read moreWhen refugees first arrive in Germany, apart from individual constraints, institutional hurdles hinder them from integrating into the labour market. However, seven years after arrival, 63 percent are ...read more
Read moreNovember 29, 2023 | Interviews
Professor Filiz Garip from Princeton University talks in this interview about climate change, migration, and ...read more
Read moreMore than one million people have fled Ukraine to find refuge in Germany. But how are they doing in the meantime? Between August and October 2022, the IAB together with three project partners ...read more
Read moreDecember 1, 2022 | Series "The Effects of the Ukraine War on the German Labour Market"
Franziska Schreyer, Silke Anger, Tim-Felix Grabert, Olena Martyniuk
The longer Ukrainian refugees stay in their receiving countries, the more urgent questions about their integration into the local labour markets become. In this context, also the issue of which ...read more