The number has more than tripled since 2003. The largest groups are from Poland, Ukraine, the Philippines, Thailand and Lithuania. Norwegian-born women with immigrant parents accounted for 3.6 per cent of the female population in the country or 104 100 persons. The largest groups are women with immigrant parents from Pakistan. Poland, Somalia, Iraq and Vietnam. Immigrant women and their Norwegian-born daughters are a complex group with a background from 218 different countries and independent regions. We know that both country background, reason for immigration and duration of stay are of great importance for integration. Norwegian-born women to immigrant parents are also a very interesting group from an integration perspective. They were born and raised in Norway and will have different prerequisites than their parents to cope in society’s various arenas.
Among immigrant women and their Norwegian- born daughters, significant differences exist in educational achievement, even within the groups we examine. Generally, Norwegian-born daughters of immigrant parents tend to have the highest educational outcomes, while women who immigrated at an earlier age lag slightly behind the broader population. Women who immigrated at a higher age fare worse, but there are numerous reasons for why they, on average, don't keep pace with other groups. When accounting for length of residence these differences become less pronounced. Overall, women across all these groups have surpassed their mothers in educational attainment. Given that education plays a crucial role in participation and integration within Norwegian society, this trend suggests that these daughters are forging opportunities that were not available to their parents.
The employment rates among Norwegian born women to immigrant parents and early immigrated women aged 25 – 39 years were at the end of 2022 quite equal, at about 78-79 per cent. The other immigrant women at the same age had a lower rate, 65.4 per cent, which was 19 percentage points lower than women without an immigrant background who had 84.5 per cent employed. There were only marginal gender disparities in these population groups except the group of other immigrants where men’s employment rate was 10 percentage points larger than the women’s. There are only small differences in the employment rates among Norwegian born women to immigrant parents and early immigrated women as the country background is concerned. Among the other immigrant women there are larger disparities. Those from Europe outside the EU, Asia and Africa have significant lower rates than those from the Nordic countries and the EU-countries.
Ranking their household income into quartiles, we find a high proportion of immigrant women in the lower end of the income distribution. Many immigrant women in the bottom income quartile are characterised by either living alone or being single parents, by having a weak attachment to the labour force and to depend on disability benefits and other income transfers. A relatively high proportion with persistent low-income confirm that many immigrant women are economically vulnerable. Norwegian-born daughters to immigrant parents have an income distribution more in line with women without an immigrant background. The proportion with persistent low-income is much smaller among these women compared to immigrant women. However, persistent low-income seems to be transferred to a greater extent from immigrant parents to their Norwegian-born daughters, compared to parents and their daughters without an immigrant background.