ABSTRACT

Immigration has brought significant changes to German society in the postwar period. In this chapter we present evidence on the scope and scale of these changes, and on the changes that German society has wrought upon immigrants and their descendants. Drawing on both historical and comparative evidence, we argue that integration is a process that should be expected to take place on a generational time scale. Data are now becoming available that make it easier to study integration on the generational scale in Germany. We present new evidence that the children of immigrants remain poorer and less educated than native Germans, with little sign of progress over recent decades. The chapter closes with a discussion of reforms that might improve integration outcomes for the country’s immigrants and, especially, for their children.