Immigrants living in Europe and North America gain, on average, almost 18% less than citizens of indigenous origin – not because they are less paid for the same work, but because they are confronted with obstacles to the entry of more remunerated jobs.
This is the conclusion of a new study led by Professor Halil Sabanci of the Frankfurt financing and management schoolpublished in Nature. Research analyzed data of 13.5 million workers in nine countries: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and United States.
Access limited to better jobs leads to the gap
The analysis revealed a remuneration gap of immigrants of 17.9% overall. Above all, only a small part of this disparity stems from an unequal salary for the same role. Instead, the vast majority – approximately three -quarters of the gap – occurs because immigrants are more likely to work in less remunerated industries, professions and businesses.
Professor Sabanci explained:
“These results shed new light on persistent remuneration disparities and have direct political implications. While applying equality of remuneration to equal work issues, the greatest challenge lies in the opening of access to more remunerated jobs. The fight against hiring biases and the improvement of job correspondence programs can go much further. ”
Differences of countries per country
The remuneration difference varied considerably between countries:
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Spain (29.9%) And Canada (27.5%) have shown the greatest disparities.
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Norway (20.3%),, Germany (19.6%),, France (18.9%)and the Netherlands (15.4%) had intermediate level gaps.
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The United States (10.6%),, Denmark (9.2%)And Sweden (7.0%) saved the smallest differences.
Progress in the next generation
For second generation immigrants – the children of those who have migrated – the gap is much smaller but still present. In Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, the researchers found that the disparity increased from 17.9% to 5.7%.
However, challenges remain, in particular for the descendants of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. When you compare workers in the same role for the same employer, the second generation remuneration gap is considerably narrowed at only 1.1%, which suggests a much greater parity once access barriers.
Political implications
The study indicates several strategies that could help reduce the gap, including:
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Linguistic training and skills development
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Recognition of foreign qualifications
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Improvement of correspondence and recruitment practices
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Better access to education, relevant information and professional networks
By attacking structural obstacles and hiring bias, decision -makers could help immigrants and their families not only reach an equal work for equal work, but also opportunities in industries and roles that offer long -term economic mobility.
References:
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Frankfurt School of Finance & Management – Search for Professor Halil Sabanci
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Nature (2025), original study publication
