The largest proportion of the citizens from so-called third countries (countries outside the EEA)) who came to an immigrant, immigrated to be reunited with a refugee. Family immigration from within the EEA area has been characterized by an increase in reunifications after the EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007, after which labor immigration from new member states such as Poland, Lithuania and Romania increased sharply. A majority of those coming to reunite with family in Norway have been women and children.
Among those who come to establish a family with someone who lives in Norway, most are immigrating to someone without immigrant background. However, the size and composition vary with regard to the gender of the reference person. There are relatively few immigrants coming to establish family with Norwegian-born with immigrant parents, even though this group has become larger and there being a greater number of persons of an age in which marriage may be relevant.
It is more common to be married among Norwegian-born to immigrant parents than it is in the general population of the same age, but the proportion who are married at the age of 21-23 has decreased in the last twenty years. However, there is great variation between groups according to country background and gender. In this report, we have also looked at cohabitation among Norwegian-born with immigrant parents and how these differ from those who are married. A lower proportion of Norwegian-born with immigrant parents who cohabit with common children have partners with the same country background compared with those who are married and live with children. There is also a larger proportion who are partners with someone without immigrant background. There are also large differences between those who are married and live with children with regard to the spouse's country background and immigration category.
Chapter 4 analyzes integration among family immigrants. The analysis follows three cohorts of family immigrants who came to Norway in the years 2006-2008 who were between 25 and 50 years old on arrival for ten years from the year of arrival with regards to income, participation in the labor market, education, and living conditions.
The degree of integration varies considerably. Compared to the total population in the same age group, family migrants generally have lower incomes on household level, live in cramped conditions, and to a lesser extent own their homes. There are also large differences among family migrants, both in terms of whom the family migrants have immigrated to and their first citizenship. Family migrants who have come to labor migrants and to those without immigrant background have higher income, are more often employed, live less cramped, and more often own their homes, especially compared with those coming to refugees. Family migrants which first citizenship was from countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, and Brazil also score relatively better on most indicators, especially when compared with family migrants from Somalia and Iraq.
There are also substantial gender differences. Males earn better and are to a greater extent employed than females. However, if you look at the reference person's reason and immigration background, there are big differences. The gender differences are particularly large among those who immigrate to refugees. Women who come to refugees have by far the lowest occupational income and employment.