| Description |
MiTSoPro focuses on the link between migration and welfare across different European and non-European countries. The first part of the project closely examines migrants’ access to welfare in home and host countries. In doing so, the project adopts a top-down analytical approach of the concept of Transnational Social Protection from above, thus aiming to provide answers to the following research questions: Do migrants have access to social protection in Europe and beyond? What kind of social benefits can they access in their countries of residence and what type of social protection entitlements can they export from their countries of origin? Do some migrant groups benefit from an easier formal access to welfare benefits than others? Do some countries offer more inclusive social protection regimes for immigrants and emigrants alike?
The first part of the project provides an in-depth analysis of eligibility conditions for accessing welfare entitlements across 40 countries. The project thus includes all EU Member States and 12 non-EU sending countries distributed across different continents, whose nationals represent an important share of the migration inflows towards European countries (the 12 non-EU countries included in the project are: Argentina, China, Ecuador, India, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia and Turkey).
For each country, we systematically analyse migrants’ access to social benefits across five core policy areas that are closely examined via a broad range of indicators (i.e. specific types of social benefits in kind and cash):
1) Health care (benefits in kind and cash in case of sickness and invalidity benefits);
2) Unemployment (covering both unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance);
3) Old-age pensions (including contributory and non-contributory pensions);
4) Family benefits (maternity, paternity, parental, and child benefits);
5) Guaranteed minimum resources (social assistance programmes aiming to provide a “safety net” aiming to protect individuals from severe poverty).
The data collection process was conducted between April 2019-January 2019, based on a survey with national experts across all country analysed. The survey included standardized questions, thus ensuring comparability across the different countries analysed, despite their different political settings and migration histories. The project covers national legislations in place in 2019.
This first dataset on migrants’ access to welfare entitlement is complemented by a second one that examines the programmes and initiatives led by home countries authorities to respond to the social protection needs of their non-resident nationals. Covering the same 40 countries, this second dataset highlights the role of three key actors (consulates, diaspora institutions and home country ministries/agencies responsible for specific social policy areas) through which sending states interact with their nationals abroad across the five policy areas previously mentioned. The data collection of this second dataset is based on another survey conducted between April 2018-January 2019 with national experts across the 40 countries analysed in the project.
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