Moshe Semyonov

The Rise of Anti-foreigner Sentiment in European Societies, 1988-2000:

The study examines change over time in sentiments toward out-group populations in European societies. For this purpose data were compiled from four waves of the Eurobarometer surveys for 12 countries that provided detailed and comparable information on attitudes toward foreigners between 1988 and 2000. A series of multilevel hierarchical linear models were estimated to examine change in the effects of individual- and country-level sources of threat on anti-foreigner sentiment. The analysis shows a substantial rise in antiforeigner sentiment between 1988 and 2000 in all 12 countries. The rise in anti-foreigner sentiment was steep in the early period (between 1988 and 1994), then leveled off after that. Although anti-foreigner sentiment tends to be more pronounced in places with a large proportion of foreign populations and where economic conditions are less prosperous, the effects of both factors on anti-foreigner sentiment have not changed over time. The analysis also shows that anti-foreigner sentiment is more pronounced in places with greater support for right-wing extreme parties. The impact of individual-level socioeconomic characteristics such as education has remained stable over the years, but the effect of political ideology has increased. The meaning and significance of the findings are discussed within the context of European societies.

Family Policies, Wage Structures, and Gender Gaps: Sources of Earnings Inequality in 20 Countries:

This study uncovers an unexpected effect of family-friendly policies on womens economic attainments. Using hierarchical linear models, the analysis combines individual-level data (obtained from the Luxembourg Income Study) with country-level data (obtained from secondary sources) to evaluate the effects of family policies on gender earnings inequality across 20 advanced societies. The analysis shows that gender earnings disparities are less pronounced in countries with developed family policies. However, the findings also show that if cross-country differences in the wage structure are controlled, the underlying effect of family policy on the gender gap is exposed. Although “mother-friendly” policies enable more women to become economically active, they exacerbate gender occupational inequality. The authors therefore conclude that the lower earnings differentials between men and women in developed welfare states should be attributed to their more egalitarian wage structures rather than to their family policies. The paradoxical implications of policies intended to reconcile paid and unpaid work as well as the mechanisms that cause these policies to widen the gender earnings gap are discussed and evaluated in light of sociological theories on the role of family policy and wage determination institutions in contemporary societies.

Labor Migration, Remittances and Household Income: A Comparison between Filipino and Filipina Overseas Workers

The major purpose of the research is to examine gender differences in patterns of labor market activity, economic behavior and economic outcomes among labor migrants. While focusing on Filipina and Filipino overseas workers, the article addresses the following questions: whether and to what extent earnings and remittances of overseas workers differ by gender; and whether and to what extent the gender of overseas workers differentially affects household income in the Philippines. Data for the analysis were obtained from the Survey of Households and Children of Overseas Workers (a representative sample of households drawn in 1999–2000 from four major “labor sending” areas in the Philippines). The analysis focuses on 1,128 households with overseas workers. The findings reveal that men and women are likely to take different jobs and to migrate to different destinations. The analysis also reveals that many more women were unemployed prior to migration and that the earnings of women are, on average, lower than those of men, even after controlling for variations in occupational distributions, country of destination, and sociodemographic attributes. Contrary to popular belief, men send more money back home than do women, even when taking into consideration earnings differentials between the genders. Further analysis demonstrates that income of households with men working overseas is significantly higher than income of households with women working overseas and that this difference can be fully attributed to the earnings disparities and to differences in amount of remittances sent home by overseas workers. The results suggest that gender inequality in the global economy has significant consequences for economic inequality among households in the local economy. The findings and their meaning are evaluated and discussed in light of the household theory of labor migration.

The Social Context of Women's Labor Force Participation: A Comparative Analysis

Utilizing data from 61 societies, this inquiry focuses on womens labor force participation as a characteristic of the social structure. First, the analysis demonstrates that participation is positively related to economic development and divorce rate and negatively related to fertility and income inequality. While the effect of economic development is mediated by various aspects of familial composition, the most significant effect on female labor force participation is that of income inequality. In societies where inequality is high, women are less likely to join the labor force. The analysis goes on to demonstrate that female labor force participation has consequences for occupational discrimination. The odds that women can achieve high status and well-paid occupations decrease with the proportion of women in the labor force. The findings reported here suggest strongly that the integration of females into the labor force is determined by the shape of the stratification system. Such integration, however, results in occupational discrimination. The meaning and significance of the findings are discussed in the light of sociological theories.

GENDER, ETHNICITY, AND IMMIGRATION Double Disadvantage and Triple Disadvantage among Recent Immigrant Women in the Israeli Labor Market

This article examines whether recent immigrant women in the Israeli labor market are at a “double disadvantage”—first as immigrants and second as women—and whether and to what extent such disadvantages differ across ethnic and geocultural groups. Data were obtained from the last available population census (1983). The analysis focuses on gender differences in employment opportunities among men and women who immigrated to Israel between 1979 and 1983. Data reveal that the double disadvantage of immigrant women is evident with regard to both labor force participation and occupational attainment. Immigrant women are less likely than immigrant men to join the Israeli labor market, and they face much greater occupational loss. Data also reveal an interaction effect between gender and ethnicity. Immigrant women from the less developed countries in Asia and Africa constitute the most disadvantaged group. This group of women appears to be at a “triple disadvantage.”

Sheltered Labor Markets, Public Sector Employment, and Socioeconomic Returns to Education of Arabs in Israel

This study expands the theoretical discussion of ethnic economies by focusing on public sector employment and the role the state plays in affecting the socioeconomic fortunes of ethnic minorities. The authors argue that under certain circumstances public sector employment helps ethnic minorities attain higher socioeconomic rewards. The findings of the study indicate that Arab employees in Israel receive higher returns to education in the ethnic labor market, compared with the dominant market, and in the public sector rather than the private sector. The latter result also holds true when Arab workers are compared to Jews, revealing the benefits derived from the sheltered labor market.

Terms of exclusion: public views towards admission and allocation of rights to immigrants in European countries

Abstract The paper contends that exclusionary views towards out-group populations are formed along two dimensions: exclusion from the country and exclusion from equal rights. Data obtained from the European Social Survey (for twenty-one countries) reveal that objection to the admission of foreigners to the country is more pronounced than objection to the allocation of ‘equal rights’. The data further suggest that objection to admission can be directed either at all non-nationals or only at ethnic and racial minorities. ‘Total exclusionists’ (i.e. support exclusion of all non-nationals) are more likely to support the denial of foreigners from equal rights than ‘racial exclusionists’ (i.e. support only exclusion of ethnic minorities). Multi-level analyses show that support for exclusion is also influenced by socio-economic characteristics of individuals (e.g. education, political orientation) and characteristics of their countries (e.g. size of the non-European population). The findings are discussed in light of sociological theory.

Perceived threat and exclusionary attitudes towards foreign workers in Israel

The present article focuses on determinants of attitudes towards granting social rights to overseas labour migrants in Israeli society. The analysis is based on a national representative sample of the adult population in Israel. The findings reveal that a substantial number of respondents (both Jews and Arabs) oppose granting equal social rights (i.e. education, welfare, health, housing) to foreign workers. These attitudes can partially be explained as resulting from perceived threat to social and economic well-being of individuals as well as threat to national identity and Jewish character of the state. Part of the exclusionary attitudes that cannot be attributed to threats, are explained by individuals’ socio-economic characteristics, ethnicity and political orientation. The findings are discussed within the context of Israel as an ethno-national state.

Bi-Ethnic Labor Markets, Mono-Ethnic Labor Markets, and Socioeconomic Inequality.

The research examines the role of local opportunity structure in the determination of social and economic outcomes by focusing on the impact of local labor market segregation on socioeconomic inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Analysis of the 1983 Israeli Census reveals that the rules by which minority members achieve socioeconomic status vary considerably across bi-ethnic and mono-ethnic labor markets. Arabs working in Jewish communities (bi-ethnic labor markets) suffer the detrimental consequences of both occupational and income discrimination more than any other group. By contrast, Arabs working in Arab communities (mono-ethnic labor markets) are occupationally advantaged. With the absence of competition, they produce incumbents for positions usually held by Jews. The findings suggest that the magnitude of disadvantages that superordinate groups force on minority groups is highly dependent on the degree of group competition in the local labor market.

GAPS AND GLISSANDOS: INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL MOBILITY IN 24 COUNTRIES*

Intergenerational mobility has been seen as influenced by both level of economic development and political democracy. Here, with a sample of 24 countries, the first of these relationships is assessed. The observed effect of economic development (GNP/capita) on mobility we conclude to be a spurious consequence of the shape of the stratification system, indicated here by the shape of both reward distributions and occupational distributions. Some discussion precedes this analysis about how the shape of a stratification system should affect mobility. Some discussion follows about how the shape of the system must affect political democracy, and leads us to a partial reinterpretation of the findings of Rubinson and Quinlan (1977) on this topic.