AUTHOR=Kanas Agnieszka , Fenger Menno 

TITLE=Non-cognitive skills and immigrant-native inequalities in the labor market in Europe

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Political Science

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/political-science/articles/10.3389/fpos.2023.1091997

DOI=10.3389/fpos.2023.1091997

ISSN=2673-3145

ABSTRACT=Noncognitive skills are increasingly essential in the labor market, especially given technological advances and evolving work environments. Unequal distribution of noncognitive skills among various groups in the population may contribute to labor market inequalities. This article investigates the significance of noncognitive skills for immigrant-native inequalities in the European labor market. Specifically, we examine the potential differences in noncognitive skills between native and immigrant groups and how these differences may affect their income. Additionally, we explore whether equal levels of noncognitive skills have comparable payoffs for native and immigrant groups in society. Our analyses are based on extensive, comparative survey data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC 2012). Our findings show that many immigrants exhibit lower levels of noncognitive skills than native-born workers, despite differences between origin groups. This difference in noncognitive skills explains part of the immigrant-native inequality in the labor market for most immigrant-origin groups. Moreover, our results indicate that immigrants, especially those from Central and Eastern European countries, benefit less from exercising comparable noncognitive skills than native-born workers. Our study highlights the importance of noncognitive skills in addressing the labor market disadvantage faced by immigrants, and emphasizes that policymakers and educators should recognize the significance of these skills when developing policies targeting immigrants.