Immigrant Social Rights – How Inclusion and Exclusion Shape Migrants’ Life Chances and Lived Experiences (SFB 1342, B04)

Research shows that migrants’ access to social protection is often restricted. Although there is growing scholarship on why certain groups are included or excluded, little is known about how these rights are implemented in practice and what consequences they entail. A key question is whether and how migrants - who represent a growing share of the global population - are actually able to make use of social benefits. This has significant implications for their socioeconomic position and political integration.

The project therefore examines how legally guaranteed social rights (de jure) are translated into actual access to benefits in practice (de facto), and how this affects migrants’ behavior and living conditions.

Work Package 1 analyzes how social rights in countries of origin and destination shape migration intentions and actual migration flows.

Work Package 2 uses text analysis of social media data to investigate whether and how migrants perceive and interpret their legal entitlements.

Work Package 3 examines the relationship between social rights and labor market indicators such as employment, income, and occupational status.

Work Package 4 continues and extends the ImmigSR dataset on migrants’ social rights, covering the years 2022–2026.

Overall, the project combines comprehensive quantitative data on migrants’ social rights with individual- and macro-level economic information, as well as qualitative approaches. In doing so, it contributes to a deeper understanding of how social rights shape migration and what consequences they have for integration.