Timarit Eflingar

10 TÍMARIT EFLINGAR-STÉTTARFÉLAGS The number of foreign nationals living in Iceland increased significantly beginning in the year 2000 until the economic collapse in 2008, increasing again from 2012 until present (Statistics Iceland, 2020). In December, ASÍ and BSRB sent a questionnaire to their members on behalf of Varða – the labor research institute. The focus of the survey was to gather information regarding the position of employees within the labor market. A overview of the results of this survey from ASÍ and BSRB members of foreign origin will be discussed in this article. Financial situation The survey showed the financial situation for immigrants is far worse than it is for natives. The following questions were used to assess the financial situation of participants: 78.3% of natives found it easy or fairly easy to make ends meet, but only 65.1% of immigrants felt the same. Significantly more immigrants found it rather difficult or difficult to make ends meet with 34.9% of immigrants responding they felt this way, compared to 26.2% of natives. Participants were asked if they recieved any financial assis- tance from either a municipality, relatives or friends, relief organizations or food assistance in the past year. 21% of immi- grants recieved one or more types of support, compared to 11.6% of natives. Assistance from friends or family was by far the most common type of assistance for both groups. Material shortage was assessed by nine questions, all but one of these questions show that the economic state of immigrants is worse than the economic state of Icelanders. These questions may also be used to measure whether or not people are living in poverty per the definition people are impoverished if any of the three factors asked in the ques- tions apply. According to the survey, 10.9% of immigrants are impoverished and 7.7% of natives. Material need by type Housing costs have a major impact on financial situations and there is a stark contrast between the housing situa- tions of immigrants versus Icelanders. 34.9% of immigrants own the homes they live in, compared to 77.4% of natives. 49.3% of immigrants rent on the private rental market, while only 11.1% of natives do the same. 8.4% of immigrants and 3.5% of natives rent housing from a rental association. More Icelanders, 7%, live with friends or family, compared to 4.6% of immigrants. Health The survey asked questions regarding physical and mental health. The survey used nine questions to assess mental health. Participants were asked how often the following issues both- ered them in the last two weeks. Figure 2 shows the proportion of participants who said the issues were present nearly every day. The proportion of immigrants responding that they strug- gle with issues every day was higher in all questions. 20.4% of immigrants struggle with sleep difficulties and 21.4% struggle with fatigue and lack of energy. Immigrants facing a worse situation than natives Proportion of respondents who experience mental health symptoms almost every day by type There is considerable difference between the physical health of natives and immigrants, but immigrants generally consider their physical health to be better. A total of 61.1% of immigrants say that their health is good or very good, compared to 54.1% of natives. 29.8% of immigrants say their health is neither good nor bad, compared to 31.2% of Icelanders. 9.1% of immigrants say their physical health is bad or rather bad, compared to 14.7% of natives. When asked if the participant needed healthcare in the last 6 months, 60.2% of natives answered yes to the question, while 46.7% of immigrants answered the same. Better physical health and a reduced need for health care could be explained by the fact that immigrants are on average younger than Inatives. State of the labor market The economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic took a great toll on immigrants and their unemployment rate is much higher than the unemployment rate of natives. Nearly a quar- ter of immigrants (24%) were unemployed in November 2020, while the general unemployment rate was 10.6% (Vinnumálast- ofnun, 2020). In Varða’s survey among companies in ASÍ and BSRB, unemployment among immigrants was higher, 26.4% than the unemployment rate of natives at 7%. Before this rise in unemployment, the employment rate of immigrants was high, in fact it was higher than the employment rate of natives. 31.9% of immigrants used the partial compensation option compared with 19.5% of Icelanders during the pandemic. 18.5% of natives worked more than the reduced employement rate while using the partial compensation option and 16.2% of immigrants. Respondents who indicated they were unemployed answered questions specifically related to unemployment. 57.6% of natives and 57.4% of immigrants had been unemployed for 0-6 months. 52.9% of natives were previously unemployed, far more than the 30.3% of immigrants. Respondants were asked extensively about various components of job search activity. Immigrants were shown to be more active in this area than natives with a differ- ence of seven percentage point. A large group of immigrants were willing to take a different job, considering moving for work and go to school. Activity and flexibility of jobseekers by type The results of Varða‘s survey show that the financial situation, mental health and labor market status are worse for immigrants than they are for Icelanders. Immigrants‘ physical health is better and their need for healthcare is less than natives, however it is important to note that immigrants as a group are on average younger than natives. Unemployed people are ready and willing to work, with the vast majority of them both actively looking for work and ready to make life changes in order to increase their changes of finding work. The economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandem- ic affects different groups in different ways. The Varða survey is one part of assessing the effects of this crisis. Further results from this survey may be found on Varða‘s website: rannvin.is - Kristín Heba Gísladóttir, managing director of Varða