Welfare problems and social exclusion among immigrants in Sweden

In this paper, we examine social exclusion among immigrants in Sweden. The groups under scrutiny are native Swedes, first generation Swedes, naturalized Swedes, Nordic citizens and non-Nordic citizens. Specifically, because one goal of the welfare state is to break the connections between different welfare problems, we investigate the associations between welfare problems among different immigrant groups as well as among native Swedes. We find that the accumulation of welfare problems is higher among immigrant groups, but that the correlations between welfare problems are strongest among Swedes. Finally, we analyse social exclusion among immigrants using a logistic regression analysis. Because a regression analysis with explanatory variables such as demographic variables, human capital indicators and socioeconomic class cannot explain the difference between immigrants and native Swedes, it appears that discrimination is a probable explanation.