Fewer than believed experience discrimination

Immigrants from non-Western countries experience less discrimination in the housing and labour markets than previously found in earlier surveys, Statistics Norway's survey on the living conditions of immigrants in 1996 shows.

On the other hand, immigrants have less money to spend than most Norwegians. Three out of 10 immigrant households fall under the low-income line. Many live in crowded conditions and a high percentage have major problems entering the workforce. Worst off are the immigrants who arrived in Norway after the recession set in in the early 1990s. Immigrants are more accepting of living conditions that Norwegians would find dissatisfactory.

Crowded and poorer

Immigrants have a much lower disposable household income per consumer unit than Norwegians. On average, their disposable household income per consumer unit is only 58 per cent of Norwegians. As a result, about three in 10 immigrant households fall under the line which the EU regards as the cutoff point for low-income. This is defined as being half of the median disposable household income per consumer unit for the population as a whole. In 1994, the line was about NOK 52,000.

New Statistics

Living Conditions among Immigrants, 1996.
Statistics are also published in Samfunnsspeilet no. 1/97, and in two notes about the survey; Elisabeth Gulløy, Svein Blom and Agnes Aall Ritland: Living Conditions among immigrants., 1996. Documentation report with tables. Notes 97/6 and Svein Blom and Agnes Aall Ritland: Living Conditions among Immigrants, Part 2: Tables for Norwegians. Notes 97/7. More information: Svein Blom, tel. +47 21 09 48 72, e-mail: sbl@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin Weekly Bulletin issue no. 7, 1997