Women with a migrant background: opportunities and challenges in Vienna

Women with a migrant background: opportunities and challenges in Vienna

An alarming picture emerges in Vienna: around 50% of women between the ages of 15 and 64 have foreign citizenship or were born abroad. Migrants are particularly hard hit in the health and social sectors, where 46% of employees have a migrant background. However, this group faces significant challenges as, despite their important role in society, many struggle with poor working conditions and significant income disparities. Women with a migrant background earn on average 500 to 800 euros less than their colleagues without a migrant background with the same level of education, as the city of Vienna reported. The information event planned for March 8th, International Women's Day, is intended to increase the opportunities for newly immigrated women by the Integration and Diversity Department and other organizations.

The integration of migrant women into the labor market is a major challenge for Austria. According to the current integration report, 25.4% of the population now has a migration background, with a particularly large number of Syrians, Afghans and Romanians having come to Austria since 2015. The 30,000 asylum applications from Ukrainian refugees make the need for additional integrative measures clear. Integration Minister Susanne Raab emphasized the expansion of language courses and offers on the labor market in order to offer these women a perspective. The chairwoman of the Integration Advisory Board, Katharina Pabel, noted that, particularly among Syrian migrants, a significant proportion of women and men are available for the labor market but are not currently employed. Targeted action is needed here to better integrate these women and men, particularly with regard to the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad and access to childcare.

In addition, statistics show that migrants in Austria are underrepresented in certain areas. While the vaccination rate for Austrians is 73%, foreign nationals only reach 56%. Particular differences can be observed among different nationalities, which further complicates the integration challenges. The Vienna city administration and other bodies are actively working to reduce these discrepancies in order to offer all women, regardless of their origin, equal opportunities in the labor market salzburg24.at reported.