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Social isolation and loneliness among refugees in Germany ,
Source: BAMF (Coverbild: AdobeStock | Onchira)
Research Report 50 looks at the prevalence and development of social isolation and social loneliness among refugees in Germany. Social isolation is defined as the absence of close relationships and also of more casual contacts. Social loneliness, in turn, refers to the subjective perception of social integration in particular.
The analyses also draw comparisons with immigrants without refugee experience and with people without a migration background. This is made possible by using data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees as well as data from the IAB-SOEP migration sample and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from the years 2016 to 2022.
Key findings
Refugees are more often without close ties and affected by feelings of loneliness than other groups
14 per cent of refugees lack any close relationships. For the comparison groups, namely immigrants without refugee experience and people with no or an indirect migration background, this figure is between ten and eleven per cent. However, male and female refugees are affected by social isolation in different ways. While refugee men are more likely than other population groups to be without any close relationships, refugee women have comparatively few close ties ties outside their family.
Refugees also feel lonely more often than other population groups. In 2021, around a fifth of refugees stated that they often or very often felt lonely. In contrast, the proportion of people without a migration background was only around six percent.
Refugee women are more often without casual contactthan refugee men
In addition to the lack of close ties, the data were also used to analyse the lack of other, more casual contacts. Refugee women are more likely than refugee men to lack casual contacts. In the course of the first six years after arrival, 15 per cent of refugee women have only rare or no contact with non-relatives. This figure is around five per cent for refugee men.
Older refugees and refugees with a low level of education are particularly exposed to an increased risk of social isolation
Older refugees are more often affected by a lack of contact than younger refugees. Due to the importance of German language skills for establishing social contacts, there is also an increased risk for people with a low level of education of not having any relationships and contacts outside their own family.
Integration into the host society and into the labour market prevents loneliness and social isolation. Few or no contacts with Germans and the feeling of being discriminated against are closely linked to the feeling of social loneliness among refugees. Taking up employment or vocational training leads to more frequent contact with non-relatives, especially Germans, and is also associated with a lower risk of being without close relationships outside the family network.
The research report was written by: Dr. Jan Eckhard and Dr. Manuel Siegert