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This [European Migration Network] EMN-study focuses on the interconnection between labour shortages in the Belgian labour market and labour migration policy from third counties to Belgium. The study makes clear that even though Belgium has extensive experience in developing sophisticated labour shortages lists and other approaches to detect labour market tensions, the link with labour migration is not fully developed. In practice, Belgium does have a labour migration system that accommodates labour shortages directly and indirectly to a certain degree. First, Belgium (through its regions) developed a flexible labour migration system for certain categories of workers. Highly skilled labour migrants, managers, researchers - to name a few - are categories that enjoy one of the fastest and cheapest labour migration procedures in Europe. This means that for all highly skilled shortage occupations, there already is an attractive procedure in place in Belgium.

Overall, [the authors] conclude that Belgium's labour migration system is soundly based on individual labour market needs of employers, with indirect and direct facilitation for certain labour market shortages. One aspect that is lacking is a thorough monitoring of the occupations for which labour migrants are recruited, which could help to study to which degree labour migration actually helps to tackle shortage occupations. The development of an accurate competence based categorisation of occupations by the Flemish [public employment agencies] PES (for which cooperation with the other regions has been established), would ideally be linked to a labour migration practice that can operate on the basis of clear, coded and categorized occupations.

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Governments across the [European Union] EU have been striving to get more people into work while at the same time acknowledging that more needs to be done to 'make work pay'. Yet this drive comes at a time when structural economic shifts are putting pressure on wages, especially of less skilled workers. This article focuses on trends in minimum wages, income taxes, and work-related benefits within a selection of 16 EU countries, for the period 2001-2012, with three US states included as reference cases. [The authors] find evidence for eroding relative minimum wages in various EU countries, yet combined with catch-up growth in the new Member States. [The authors] also find that governments counteracted eroding minimum wages through direct income support measures, especially for lone parents. Most prevalent among these were substantial declines in income tax liabilities. More generally [the authors] see a trend unfolding towards a fiscalization of income support policies.

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This paper examines the labor market trajectories of refugees who arrived in Belgium between 1999 and 2009. Belgium offers a relatively easy formal labor market access to refugees and other types of migrants but they face many other barriers in this strongly regulated and institutionalized labor market. Based on a longitudinal dataset that links respondents' information from the Belgian Labor Force Survey with comprehensive social security data on their work histories, we estimate discrete-time hazard models to analyze refugees' entry into and exit out of the first employment spell, contrasting their outcomes with family and labor migrants of the same arrival cohort. The analysis shows that refugees take significantly longer to enter their first employment spell as compared with other migrant groups. They also run a greater risk of exiting out of their first employment spell (back) into social assistance and into unemployment. The low employment rates of refugees are thus not only due to a slow integration process upon arrival, but also reflect a disproportional risk of exiting the labor market after a period in work. Our findings indicate that helping refugees into a first job is not sufficient to ensure labor market participation in the long run, because these jobs may be short-lived. Instead, our results provide clear arguments in favor of policies that support sustainable labor market integration.

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This paper examines the labor market trajectories of refugees who arrived in Belgium between 2003 and 2009. Belgium has offered relatively easy formal labor market access to refugees, but they face many other barriers in its strongly regulated and institutionalized labor market. Using the Belgian Labour Force Survey linked to longitudinal administrative data, we estimate event history models to compare refugees' entry into and exit out of the first employment, contrasting their outcomes with family and labor migrants of the same arrival cohort. The analysis shows that refugees take significantly longer to enter their first employment as compared to other migrant groups. They also run a greater risk of exiting out of their first employment into unemployment and (back) into social assistance. The results suggest that quick formal access clearly does not suffice for sustainable integration in the labor market. Additional education and labor market measures appear needed to enhance a more durable integration.

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In-work poverty became a prominent policy issue in the United States long before the term itself acquired any meaning and relevance in other industrialized countries. With America's embrace of an employment-centered anti-poverty strategy, the working poor have become even more of an issue. This paper reviews some key trends, drivers and policy issues. How much in-work poverty is there in the United States? How does the US compare to other rich democracies? Has America's in-work poverty rate changed over time? Who are the in-work poor? What are the main drivers of levels and changes in in-work poverty? Finally, the authors examine prospects for America's working poor going forward.

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Despite being one of the most prolific spenders on active labour market policies, and investing heavily in civic integration programmes, family policies and career and diversity plans, the native-migrant employment gap in Belgium is still one of the largest among EU and OECD countries. Past research has shown that even after controlling for human capital and other socio-demographic factors a large unexplained gap (often called ethnic gap or penalty) remains. This paper investigates how the motive for migrating to Belgium contributes to the native-migrant employment gap. Based on data from the 2014 Belgian LFS Ad Hoc Module on the labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants, we compare the employment outcomes of labour migrants (with and without a job prior to migration), family reunion migrants, student migrants and refugees with those of the native-born. In line with previous studies, we establish that refugees and family reunion migrants' employment likelihood is lower when compared to labour migrants and natives. Refugees who do work tend to do so in temporary jobs and in jobs that are below their skill levels. However, temporary employment is also prevalent among labour migrants without a job prior to migration and over qualification is a specific challenge for male student migrants.

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