More asylum seekers with residency in paid work

Asylum seekers with residency working in a kitchen
© ANP / Ramon van Flymen
Work has become the main source of income for asylum seekers who have been a resident in the Netherlands for a longer period of time. In the first year after their permit was granted in 2014, almost all resident permit holders were dependent on benefits or had no income. However, in 2023, employment was the main source of income for 47 percent of them. Asylum seekers who received a residence permit in recent years were more likely to have a job than those who obtained a permit a longer time ago. This is according to new figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Every year since 2017, CBS has looked at how asylum seekers who have come to the Netherlands since 2014 are faring. This study was commissioned by the Netherlands’ Ministries of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) and Asylum and Migration. This year’s study describes the changes during the first half of 2024. The 2025 Report on Asylum and Integration <link> provides an overview of the study.

From 2014 to June 2024, more than 280 thousand asylum seekers received a residence permit. Most of the permits were granted to people from Syria (157 thousand) and Eritrea (37 thousand). Other asylum seekers with residency were from Türkiye (Turkey), Afghanistan and Yemen, among other countries.

Work as main source of income after seven years

One year after they received their residence permits, almost all asylum seekers aged between 18 and 65 were dependent on social benefits. In 2014, that share was 85 percent. Over the years, their benefit dependency has dropped because an increasing number of residence permit holders found a job. Seven years after obtaining a residence permit in 2014, 2015 or 2016, work has become their main source of income. In 2023, this was the case for 47 percent of asylum seekers who received a residence permit in 2014. The fall in the number of benefit recipients and the increase in paid work as their main source of income is seen when asylum seekers have been resident in the Netherlands for a longer period of time. This is true of all years in which permits were granted.

New residence permit holders find work sooner

Asylum seekers who received a residence permit in recent years were more likely to have paid work than those who obtained their permit a longer time ago. Thirty-one percent of asylum seekers with residency since 2020 found a job three years after receiving their permit.

Asylum seekers with residency for whom work is not yet their main source of income can also be in paid employment. This applies, for instance, to students with a residence permit who have a part-time job.

Asylum and integration 2025

The 2025 Report on Asylum and Integration<link> provides an insight into the number of asylum seekers living in COA reception centres and the composition and integration of those holding a residence permit. The publication contains figures on periods spent in COA reception centres, the waiting period for obtaining a residence permit, housing, civic integration, household composition, family reunification, education, naturalisation, work and income, use of health care, and crime. It also includes a separate section on Ukrainian refugees under the Temporary Protection Directive. All figures can be viewed on the Asylum and Integration dashboard (available in Dutch).

Sources

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