migration background

File:Karte Bevölkerungsanteil von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund.svg

The term Migrationshintergrund is a neologism{{Cite web |title=Neologismenwörterbuch: "Migrationshintergrund" |url=https://www.owid.de/artikel/316456 |access-date=27 January 2021 |website=owid.de}} that was first used by the Essen education professor {{ill|Ursula Boos-Nünning|de|}} in the 1990s. The term is derived from the English term "migration background" and was translated by Boos-Nünning. The term was brought about as a reaction to changing demographics: with naturalized people, {{ill|Resettlers and late resettlers|lt=late repatriates|de|Aussiedler und Spätaussiedler}} (with German citizenship) and children of foreigners born in Germany who, under certain conditions, had German citizenship following a legal reform, more than 7 million people lived in Germany at the beginning of the 21st century and their migration experiences should be taken into account.{{Cite web |last=Will |first=Anne-Kathrin |date=5 February 2020 |title=Migrationshintergrund – wieso, woher, wohin? |url=https://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/migration/laenderprofile/304523/migrationshintergrund |access-date=27 January 2021 |website=bpb.de}} The previously used criterion of citizenship or statelessness was too short to describe the social integration processes of naturalized immigrants of the first generation and their descendants, so the new criterion was also used.{{Cite web |title=Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/lexika/270615/migrationshintergrund |access-date=27 January 2021 |website=bpb.de |type=Eintrag im Glossar}}

When defining the term for the 2005 microcensus, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany claimed that the term had been {{qi|common in science and politics for a long time}}. It was being used {{qi|increasingly frequently, despite its awkwardness}}. It expressed {{qi|that those affected should not only include the immigrants themselves – i.e. the actual migrants – but also certain of their descendants born in Germany}}. The office admitted, however, that it was difficult to use the term {{qi|people with a migration background}} in a clear-cut manner. For example, the term appeared in 1998 in the tenth report on children and young people by the German Youth Institute,{{Cite book |url=https://www.dji.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bibs/Zehnter_Kinder-und_Jugendbericht.pdf |title=Unterrichtung durch die Bundesregierung: Bericht über die Lebenssituation von Kindern und die Leistungen der Kinderhilfen in Deutschland – Zehnter Kinder- und Jugendbericht – mit der Stellungnahme der Bundesregierung |date=25 August 1998 |volume=13. Wahlperiode |issn=0722-8333 |issue=11368}} and in the PISA study of 2003.{{Cite book |url=https://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/34474315.pdf |title=Lernen für die Welt von morgen – Erste Ergebnisse von PISA 2003 |date=2004 |publisher=Spektrum Akademischer Verlag |isbn=3-8274-1637-X}} In 2005, the term was officially included as an ordering criterion in the official statistics of the {{ill|microcensus|de|Mikrozensus}}, which, according to migration researcher {{ill|Klaus Jürgen Bade|de}}, had been {{qi|demanded by experts for years}}.{{Cite book |url=http://kjbade.de/bilder/Bade_OBS.pdf#page=6 |title=Versäumte Integrationschancen und nachholende Integrationspolitik |date=2007 |publisher=V&R unipress |isbn=978-3-89971-397-8 |series=Beiträge der Akademie für Migration und Integration |pages=24 |format=PDF}}

Since the 2005 {{ill|microcensus|de|Mikrozensus}}, the state statistical offices and the Federal Statistical Office have distinguished between the population with a migration background and the population without a migration background.{{Cite web |title="Personen mit Migrationshintergrund"; Abschnitt: "Migrationshintergrund im engeren und im weiteren Sinn" |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/Methoden/PersonenMitMigrationshintergrund.html |access-date=7 May 2017 |publisher=Statistisches Bundesamt}} This distinction is made by indirectly determining data on migration background. The basis for this is an amendment to the Microcensus Act of 2004, which provides for the inclusion of questions to determine migration background in the surveys from 2005 to 2012. Specifically, information is requested on immigration, nationality and immigration of the respective respondent and their parents. People with a migration background (in the broader sense) are defined as {{qi|all those who immigrated to the current territory of the Federal Republic of Germany after 1949, as well as all foreigners born in Germany and all those born in Germany as Germans with at least one parent who immigrated after 1949 or was born in Germany as a foreigner}}.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit: Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2005 |url=https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/DEHeft_derivate_00032721/2010220057004_korr23082017.pdf#page=5 |access-date=30 January 2023 |website=Statistische Bibliothek |pages=5 |type=Statistisches Bundesamt, Fachserie 1, Reihe 2.2 |format=PDF; 3,8 MB}} The definition of people with a migration background in the narrower sense, which is also used for the purpose of comparability over time, is the same, except that this definition does not include German immigrant children who are born and no longer live with their parents or one parent.

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079036-0016, Lager Friedland, Familie aus Kasachstan.jpg moved to Germany in the late 1980s. They are considered Aussiedler, meaning they are immigrants of German ancestry. Many "re-settlers" moved to Germany from the Eastern Bloc in the period.]]

By definition, {{ill|Resettlers and late resettlers|lt=late repatriates|de|Aussiedler und Spätaussiedler}} and their children are also considered to be people with a migration background.{{Cite journal |last=Göttler |first=Andrea |date=28 May 2023 |title=Ethnic belonging, traditional cultures and intercultural access: the discursive construction of older immigrants' ethnicity and culture |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1954893 |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |volume=49 |issue=9 |pages=2290–2309 |doi=10.1080/1369183X.2021.1954893 |issn=1369-183X|url-access=subscription }} These people don't necessarily need to have any migration experience of their own. In Germany, migration experience of one parent is sufficient to be classified as a person with a migration background, while in Austria, for example, migration experience of both parents is required. An estimated 2.45 million people (27.2% of the total population) with a migration background lived in Austria in 2023.{{Cite web |last=Morina |first=Drenusha |date=8 July 2024 |title=25% of People in Austria Have Migrant Roots |url=https://schengen.news/25-of-people-in-austria-have-migrant-roots/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=SchengenNews |language=en}}

One-third of people with a migration background have lived in Germany since birth.{{Cite web |date=12 January 2023 |title=Over one quarter of people in Germany have a migration background |url=https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/46046/over-one-quarter-of-people-in-germany-have-a-migration-background |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=InfoMigrants}} In 2023, roughly 58.97 million Germans did not have a migration background.{{Cite web |title=Germans with and without migration background {{!}} Statista |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/891730/number-germans-with-without-migrant-background/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241126231039/https://www.statista.com/statistics/891730/number-germans-with-without-migrant-background/ |archive-date=26 November 2024 |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Statista |language=en}}

File:2011-09-FadumoKorn1295.jpg

According to this definition, in 2006, 15.3 million people with a migration background lived in Germany, corresponding to 18.6% of the population.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit: Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2005 |url=https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/DEHeft_derivate_00032721/2010220057004_korr23082017.pdf#page=7 |access-date=30 January 2023 |website=Statistische Bibliothek |pages=7 |type=Statistisches Bundesamt, Fachserie 1, Reihe 2.2 |format=PDF; 3,8 MB}} In 2009, the number of people with a migration background in Germany rose to 16 million, or 19.6% of the population. This growth is due to the increase in the number of German citizens with a migration background, as the number of foreigners in Germany has stagnated at 7.2 million for around ten years.

At 10.4 million, those who have immigrated since 1950 – the population with their own personal experience of migration – make up two thirds of all people with a migration background.{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313151019/http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/DE/Presse/pm/2008/03/PD08__105__12521.psml|title=Leichter Anstieg der Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund|date=13 March 2008}} In 2006, 7.3 million or 8.9% of the population or 47% of people with a migration background had foreign nationality. People with a migration background and {{ill|Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit|lt=German citizenship|de|Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit}} comprised 7.9 million or 9.5% of the population or 53% of people with a migration background in 2006. People with a migration background are on average significantly younger than those without a migration background (33.8 compared to 44.6 years). They are more strongly represented in the younger age cohorts than in the older ones. Among children under five, people with a migration background made up a third of this population group in 2008.

The 2011 European Union census was based on a slightly different definition of migration background. The question was not about immigration after 1949, but after 1955.{{Cite web |date=7 October 2010 |title=Haushaltsbefragung auf Stichprobenbasis zum Zensus 2011 |url=http://cdn.zensus2011.de/live/fileadmin/material/pdf/fragebogen/Fragebogen_Haushaltebefragung_20101007a.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515154522/http://cdn.zensus2011.de/live/fileadmin/material/pdf/fragebogen/Fragebogen_Haushaltebefragung_20101007a.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2011 |access-date=11 September 2019 |website=cdn.zensus2011.de |format=PDF; 966 KB}}

In 2016, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany changed the definition as part of a {{qi|typification of migration background}} so that it is now {{qi|easier to understand}}. It now reads: {{qi|A person has a migration background if they themselves or at least one parent was not born with German citizenship. In detail, this definition includes immigrant and non-immigrant foreigners, immigrant and non-immigrant naturalised citizens, (late) repatriates and the descendants of these groups who were born as Germans.}}{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit: Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2005 |url=https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/DEHeft_derivate_00032721/2010220057004_korr23082017.pdf#page=20 |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Statistische Bibliothek |page=20 |type=Statistisches Bundesamt, Fachserie 1, Reihe 2.2 |format=PDF; 3,8 MB}}

To explain why the old definition was inadequate, the Federal Statistical Office explains: {{qi|There is also a small group of people who were born abroad with German citizenship and whose parents do not have a migration background. In the 2015 microcensus, this affects an estimated 25,000 people. These people were born while their parents were abroad, e.g. while studying abroad or working abroad. But these people born abroad do not have a migration background because they themselves and their parents were born with German citizenship. Children of parents without a migration background cannot have a migration background}}.{{Cite book |url=https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/DEHeft_derivate_00037315/2010220157004_korr21032017.pdf#page=4 |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2015 |publisher=Statistisches Bundesamt |series=Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit – Fachserie 1 Reihe 2.2 |pages=4 |format=PDF}}

According to the new definition, the migration background no longer depends on the time of a person's immigration to the territory of Germany. Nevertheless, the Federal Statistical Office restricts this: {{qi|The displaced persons of the Second World War and their descendants do not belong to the population with a migration background, since they and their parents were born with German citizenship}}. The fact that people such as Sudeten Germans or {{ill|Status Germans|de|Statusdeutscher}} were usually actually born without German citizenship is apparently not taken into account in this definition.{{Cite news |date=7 February 2004 |title=The Sudeten Germans' forgotten fate |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3466233.stm |access-date=11 March 2025}}

The new definition is first found in a statement issued in September 2016 entitled "Population with a migration background at record levels",{{Cite web |date=16 September 2016 |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund auf Rekordniveau |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2016/09/PD16_327_122.html |access-date=24 September 2019 |website=destatis.de |publisher=Statistisches Bundesamt |type=Pressemitteilung Nr. 327}} while the old definition is still used in the 2016 Statistical Yearbook.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Statistisches Jahrbuch 2016 |url=https://www.statistischebibliothek.de/mir/receive/DEAusgabe_mods_00000646 |access-date=16 May 2022 |website=statistischebibliothek.de |pages=70}}

• Ethnic minorities in Poland

According to Article 3 of the Basic Law and the {{ill|General Equal Treatment Act|de|Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz}} (AGG), it is forbidden to attach legal consequences to a person's {{qi|ethnic origin}}. No one may be discriminated against or given preferential treatment because they or their ancestors immigrated to Germany.{{Cite web |title=General Equal Treatment Act |url=https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/EN/about-discrimination/order-and-law/general-equal-treatment-act/general-equal-treatment-act-node.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250301172545/https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/EN/about-discrimination/order-and-law/general-equal-treatment-act/general-equal-treatment-act-node.html |archive-date=1 March 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Antidiskriminierungsstelle}}

Two years after the entry into force of the Integration and Participation Act in Berlin, which provides for the recording of the proportion of people with a migration background in various social groups, the Berlin Senate announced in 2012 in response to a parliamentary question that correct measurements in the public service or among politicians would require surveys that are not legally permissible.{{Cite web |last=Wierth |first=Alke |date=12 August 2012 |title=Die Tücken der Integration |url=https://taz.de/Integrationsindikatoren-fehlen/!5086610/ |access-date=26 September 2019 |website=taz.de}} Therefore, the state of Berlin finally revised the legislation and on 17 June 2021 the House of Representatives passed the Act on the New Regulation of Participation in the State of Berlin, which came into force on 16 July 2021. Article 1 of the Act contains the Act to Promote Participation in the Migration Society of the State of Berlin (Participation Act – PartMigG), which replaces the previous Integration and Participation Act and specifies how the migration background should be recorded. Paragraph 3, paragraph 2 PartMiG states: {{qi|A person has a migration background if they themselves or at least one of their parents does not have German citizenship by birth.}} Paragraph 8, in turn, regulates how this migration background is to be recorded: {{qi|The public bodies pursuant to paragraph 4, paragraph 1 shall, after obtaining written consent from applicants and employees, determine whether they are persons with a migration background. The data is collected for the purpose of implementing measures pursuant to this section and for statistical purposes. Discrimination based on information or lack of information on migration background is prohibited. Consent can be revoked at any time without giving reasons to the body collecting the consent. In the event of revocation, the data must be deleted immediately and confirmation of the revocation must be sent to the person revoking the consent.}} On this basis, according to paragraph 9, paragraph 1, for {{qi|each salary, remuneration and pay group as well as each superior and management level ... it must be determined whether persons with a migration background are employed in proportion to their share of the Berlin population. The number of trainees and civil servant candidates, broken down by whether they have a migration background or not, by career or professional field and by training occupation, must be presented}}.{{Cite web |last=Kahlefeld |first=Susanna |date=24 March 2021 |title=Gesetz zur Förderung von Partizipation in der Migrationsgesellschaft (PartMigG) |url=https://gruene-fraktion.berlin/das-neue-partmigg/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Grüne Fraktion Berlin |language=de}}

At the same time, due to criticism of the concept of migration background, the new Section 3 Paragraph 1 of the PartMiG introduced the new category of {{qi|person with a migration history}}, which covers a much wider group of people. In addition to people with a migration background, this category also includes {{qi|people who are racially discriminated against and people who are generally attributed a migration background. This attribution can be linked in particular to phenotypic characteristics, language, name, origin, nationality and religion}}. Legal consequences are linked to this definition, as Section 19 Paragraph 2 stipulates for the District Advisory Council for Participation and Integration to be formed in each Berlin district: {{qi|The District Advisory Council consists of representatives of people with a migration history as well as representatives who can contribute to the work of the District Advisory Council due to their knowledge of issues of participation, integration and equal participation of people with a migration history. The representatives of people with a migration history should form the majority}}.{{Cite web |date=5 March 2025 |title=Das Berliner Partizipationsgesetz |url=https://www.berlin.de/lb/intmig/partizipation/partizipationsgesetz/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=www.berlin.de |language=de}}

In March 2023, results of the microcensus on the population {{qi|with an immigration history}} were published. According to this concept, (German: Einwanderungsgeschichte), a person has an "immigration history" if he or she has immigrated himself or both of his or her parents have immigrated to what is now Germany since 1950.{{Cite web |date=23 March 2023 |title=Kein Abschied vom Migrationshintergrund |url=https://mediendienst-integration.de/artikel/kein-abschied-vom-migrationshintergrund.html |access-date=1 May 2024 |website=mediendienst-integration.de |publisher=Mediendienst Integration |language=de}}

When publishing the results of the {{ill|German Census 2022|lt=2022 census|de|Volkszählung in Deutschland 2022}} at the end of June 2024, the Federal Statistical Office announced that the {{qi|concept of immigration history [...] replaces the concept of migration background from the 2011 census}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Amelung |first1=Nina |last2=Scheel |first2=Stephan |last3=van Reekum |first3=Rogier |date=27 May 2024 |title=Reinventing the politics of knowledge production in migration studies: introduction to the special issue |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |volume=50 |issue=9 |pages=2163–2187 |doi=10.1080/1369183X.2024.2307766 |issn=1369-183X |doi-access=free}} The new concept now appears in the forms "with immigration history", "immigrants", "descendants of immigrants", "with one-sided immigration history" and "without immigration history".{{Cite web |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |date=13 January 2025 |title="Einwanderungsgeschichte" |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/regionalprofile/deutschland/558144/einwanderungsgeschichte/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |language=de}} A newly created definition of immigration history was announced: "An immigration history is said to be someone who has either immigrated to Germany themselves or whose two parents have immigrated to Germany. The state of a person at the time of their birth applies. People born before 2 August 1945 are evaluated based on the borders of the German Reich as of 31 December 1937. People born after 2 August 1945 are classified {{ill|German Reich within the borders of 31 December 1937|lt=based on the borders of today's Federal Republic|de|Deutsches Reich in den Grenzen vom 31. Dezember 1937}}. Information on the descendants of migrants, regardless of whether they have a bilateral or unilateral immigration history, can only be provided for persons of the same age and under 18 years of age who are registered in the same municipality as their parents". This means that all German persons who were born sometime before 1945 in the areas annexed from 1938 onwards now have an immigration history, as do those who were born after 2 August 1945, but before the expulsion in the areas east of the Oder-Neisse line.{{Cite web |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund / Einwanderungsgeschichte in Deutschland |url=https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Forschung/Veroeffentlichungen/Migrationsbericht2022/PersonenMigrationshintergrund/personenmigrationshintergrund-node.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250228180710/https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Forschung/Veroeffentlichungen/Migrationsbericht2022/PersonenMigrationshintergrund/personenmigrationshintergrund-node.html |archive-date=28 February 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=BAMF – Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge |language=de-DE}}

The federal states use their own definitions for their purposes.{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Deutschland: Definition "Migrationshintergrund" |url=http://www.demokratie-spiegel.de/deutschland/integrationspolitik/deutschlanddefinitionmigrationshintergrund.html |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=demokratie-spiegel.de |type=Newsletter des Netzwerks Migration in Europa e. V.}} According to the definition used in North Rhine-Westphalia up to and including 2010, a person has a migration background if he or she has a foreign nationality or immigrated to the territory of the present Federal Republic of Germany after 1949 or has at least one immigrant or foreign parent; in the definition used since 2011, the nationality of the parents no longer plays a role.{{Cite web |date=December 2014 |title=Methodische Erläuterung |url=https://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/b/daten/Textdateien/r514Text_mz_erwerb1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629213832/https://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/b/daten/Textdateien/r514Text_mz_erwerb1.html |archive-date=29 June 2016 |access-date=29 June 2016 |publisher=Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen}}

On 7 July 2016 the Bundestag approved the draft of the Federal Government and the coalition factions CDU/CSU and SPD for a {{ill|Integration Act (Germany)|lt=Federal Integration Act|de|Integrationsgesetz (Deutschland)}} in response to the European refugee crisis.{{Cite web |last=Heine |first=Claudia |title=Deutscher Bundestag – Bundestag beschließt ein Integrationsgesetz |url=https://www.bundestag.de/webarchiv/textarchiv/2016/kw27-de-integrationsgesetz-433728 |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}} The 2016 draft bill for a Bavarian Integration Act was intended to give Germans with a migration background equal status to persons with a parent or grandparent who immigrated to Germany after the end of the migration movements related to the Second World War.Siehe Artikel 2 ({{Quote inline|zumindest einen Eltern- oder Großelternteil haben, der die Bedingungen der Nr. 1 erfüllt}}) in Verbindung mit Abschnitt Zu Art. 2 – Begriffsbestimmungen („Deutsche Staatsangehörige sind nach der Begriffsbildung in Abs. 1 nicht Migranten. Gleichwohl besteht auch innerhalb dieser Bevölkerungsgruppe nicht selten ein Migrationshintergrund, mit dem bisweilen auch ein spezifischer Integrationsbedarf einhergeht. Deshalb sieht Abs. 3 Satz 1 eine entsprechende Anwendung der Regelungen des Bayerischen Integrationsgesetzes über die Integrationsförderung für solche Deutsche vor, die selbst nach Abschluss der Wanderungsbewegungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg nach Deutschland zugewandert sind (Nr. 1) oder bei denen eine solche Zuwanderung im engeren familiären Hintergrund stattgefunden hat (Nr. 2), soweit noch ein spezifischer Integrationsbedarf besteht." Unless otherwise stated this article is based on the definition of the Federal Statistical Office.

The term "person with a migration background" is not synonymous with the terms "Ausländer", "immigrant" or "{{ill|Migrant (designation)|lt=migrant|de|migrant}}", but is often incorrectly used as follows:{{Cite web |date=6 August 2013 |title=Ausländer, Drittausländer |url=http://www.aufenthaltstitel.de/stichwort/auslaender.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806070532/http://www.aufenthaltstitel.de/stichwort/auslaender.html |archive-date=6 August 2013 |access-date=11 March 2025}}

• Naturalization does not change the status "with a migration background".
• There are foreigners who migrated to Germany before 1950 and have not yet been naturalized. According to the original definition of the statistics, neither they nor their descendants are "people with a migration background," but according to the later definition of the Migration Background Survey Ordinance of 2010, they are.
• People who have immigrated to Germany as Germans (especially {{ill|Resettlers and late resettlers|lt=late repatriates|de|Aussiedler und Spätaussiedler}}, but also children of German parents who happened to be born abroad) are also "people with a migration background" according to the definition of 2005 or 2011.
• People who were born as Germans in Germany and have German parents can also have a migration background. And conversely, people with a migration background (according to the 2016 definition) are not necessarily migrants themselves.
• Germans with one foreign parent who never immigrated to Germany have a migration background according to the 2016 definition, but would not have a migration background according to the 2005 or 2011 definition.
• A child born in Germany to foreign parents on or after 1 January 2000 is German under certain conditions.{{Cite web |last=Amt |first=Auswärtiges |title=FAQ |url=https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/visa-service/buergerservice/faq/03-geburtind/606638 |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=German Federal Foreign Office}} New regulations came into force in 2014.{{Cite web |last=Amt |first=Auswärtiges |title=Acquiring German citizenship |url=https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/acquiring-german-citizenship-2463622 |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=uk.diplo.de}}

In the course of the debate on integration policy, the integration of foreigners, immigrants and people with a migration background is often referred to as {{qi|integration of people with a migration background}} in the current political debate in Germany. This topic was an important issue in the 2025 German federal election.{{Cite web |title=Germany: Far right decide vote on anti-migration proposal – DW – 01/29/2025 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-decide-vote-on-anti-migration-proposal/live-71441622 |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=dw.com}}{{Cite web |date=18 February 2025 |title=Tensions laid bare as Germans worry about immigration ahead of election |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c203018pr2jo |access-date=3 March 2025 |website=www.bbc.com}}

The term "migration background" has become widespread in the media and in everyday language, although its use is not always correct. For example, the term "people with a migration background" often replaces the previously common term "foreign citizens". Inaccurately, the term "person with a migration background" is often replaced by the shorter word "{{ill|Migrant (designation)|lt=migrant|de|migrant}}". If this is used again elsewhere with a different meaning, for example in a numerical comparison of social groups, confusion can arise.{{Cite web |last=Scherr |first=Albert |date=January 2014 |title=The Construction of National Identity in Germany: "Migration Background" as a Political and Scientific Category |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274386478 |website=University of Education Freiburg}}

The term "people with a migration background" was also caught up in the mechanism known as the "euphemism treadmill". Many of them now have the same connotations as the term "foreigner". In some selection processes, "migration background" was suggested as the {{qi|un-word of the year}}.{{Cite web |last=Astheimer |first=Sven |date=7 January 2013 |title=Migrationshintergrund? Nein, Danke! |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/karriere-hochschule/unwort-2012-migrationshintergrund-nein-danke-12013319.html |access-date=23 September 2021 |website=faz.net}}{{Cite web |date=20 January 2009 |title="Notleidende Banken" ist Unwort des Jahres |url=https://www.neuepresse.de/Nachrichten/Panorama/Notleidende-Banken-ist-Unwort-des-Jahres |access-date=23 September 2021 |website=neuepresse.de}}{{Cite web |date=15 January 2008 |title="Herdprämie" ist Unwort des Jahres 2007 |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/sprache-herdpraemie-ist-unwort-des-jahres-2007/1142322.html |access-date=23 September 2021 |website=tagesspiegel.de}}

The daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung called on its readers to suggest a new term at the end of 2010. The most frequently suggested terms were "human being", "foreigner", "new German", "immigrant", "new citizen" and "immigrant" – but none of the suggestions convinced the editors: {{qi|So the conclusion remains that many people would like a different word, but unfortunately there is no really catchy one at hand}}.{{Cite web |date=7 December 2010 |title="Mensch mit Migrationshintergrund" – "Memi", "Beute-Teutone" und "Reinländer" |url=https://blogs.taz.de/hausblog/memi_beute-teutone_und_reinlaender/ |access-date=23 October 2020 |website=blogs.taz.de}}{{Cite web |date=8 December 2010 |title="Migra" und "Neudeutscher" am beliebtesten |url=https://blogs.taz.de/hausblog/migra_und_neudeutscher_am_beliebtesten/ |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=blogs.taz.de}}

Meanwhile, the term is also used jokingly in the media in non-political contexts ({{qi|German words and their migration background}}, {{qi|Nausea with a migration background}},Markus Zens: {{Cite web |date=29 April 2008 |title=Übelkeit mit Migrationshintergrund. |url=https://www.wissenschaft.de/umwelt-natur/uebelkeit-mit-migrationshintergrund/ |access-date=8 September 2019 |website=wissenschaft.de}} and {{qi|Royal dish with a migration background}}).{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=Peter |date=6 January 2008 |title=Tageskarte Küche: Königsspeise mit Migrationshintergrund |trans-title=Cuisine of the day: King's dish with a migration background |url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/tageskarte-kueche-koenigsspeise-mit-migrationshintergrund-a-526646.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Der Spiegel |language=de |trans-website=The Mirror}}

The term immigration history (German: Migrationshintergrund) is increasingly used as a synonym for migration background, for example "people with an immigration history", which was coined by the former North Rhine-Westphalian Integration Minister Armin Laschet. He is considered one of the first conservative politicians to advocate a non-ideological commitment to immigration.{{Cite news |last1=Bartsch |first1=Matthias |last2=Brandt |first2=Andrea |last3=Steinvorth |first3=Daniel |date=7 September 2010 |title=Turkish Immigration to Germany: A Sorry History of Self-Deception and Wasted Opportunities |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/turkish-immigration-to-germany-a-sorry-history-of-self-deception-and-wasted-opportunities-a-716067.html |access-date=3 March 2025 |work=Der Spiegel |issn=2195-1349}}

When referring to population groups, the Dutch words allochthon and autochthonous mean the same as "with a migration background" or "without a migration background".{{Cite journal |last1=Yanow |first1=Dvora |last2=van der Haar |first2=Marleen |date=1 April 2013 |title=People out of place: allochthony and autochthony in the Netherlands' identity discourse — metaphors and categories in action |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jird.2012.13 |journal=Journal of International Relations and Development |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=227–261 |doi=10.1057/jird.2012.13 |issn=1581-1980|url-access=subscription }} In relation to Germany, the controversial term "{{ill|Bio-German|de|Biodeutsch}}" is also used for people without a migration background.{{Cite web |title='Biodeutsch' is German 'non-word of the year' – DW – 01/13/2025 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/biodeutsch-is-german-non-word-of-the-year/g-42148293 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=dw.com}}

The term "German of German descent" is not the opposite of the term " people with a migration background", as the latter also includes immigrants of German descent with German citizenship (e.g. late repatriates) and their descendants, who thus fall under both terms.{{Cite web |title=German Citizenship by Descent Requirements, Eligibility and Procedures |url=https://www.germany-visa.org/german-citizenship/by-descent/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Germany Visa}} Children from {{ill|Bicultural marriage|lt=binational families|de|Interkulturelle Ehe}} can also be "German of German descent" and "with a migration background" at the same time due to their international roots.

The term "passport German" is also used for naturalized persons with a migration background. Initially, the term "passport German" was used primarily to describe late repatriates who were considered to be of German nationality under the law of their country of origin and who had a privileged legal position compared to other migrants when acquiring German citizenship. Although they were often perceived as foreign immigrants, they were not legally considered foreigners.{{Cite news |last1=Bennhold |first1=Katrin |last2=Vancon |first2=Laetitia |date=8 November 2019 |title=Germany Has Been Unified for 30 Years. Its Identity Still Is Not. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/world/europe/germany-identity.html |access-date=11 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The term was later co-opted, especially in circles of the New Right, as a derogatory term for Germans with a migration background.{{Cite web |date=29 July 2018 |title=Warum die Rede von "Passdeutschen" unangemessen ist |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/warum-die-rede-von-passdeutschen-unangemessen-ist-15712646.html |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}} A passdeutsch, "passport German", identity is often contrasted with the concept of ethnic Germans.{{Cite book |last=Dietze |first=Gabriele |author-link=Gabriele Dietze |url=https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/136277 |title=Okzidentalismen: Projektionen und Reflexionen des Westens in Kunst, Ästhetik und Kultur |date=2023 |publisher=transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8394-6199-0 |editor-last=Mersmann |editor-first=Birgit |location=Bielefeld, Germany |page=25 |language=de |trans-title=Occidentalisms: projections and reflections of the West in art, aesthetics and culture |chapter=Occidentalism Reconsidered : Hegemoniekritik, Hegemonie(selbst)kritik, Desintegration und Intersektionalität |doi=10.1515/9783839461990 |jstor=j.ctv371chtx.4 |oclc=1355220962 |editor-last2=Ohls |editor-first2=Hauke}}

The use of the term in the definition has also been criticized. At a conference held by the {{ill|Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research|de|Berliner Institut für empirische Integrations- und Migrationsforschung}} at the end of 2015 on the use, impact and evaluation of empirical data in the context of immigration society, the participating experts agreed that the migration background neither {{qi|makes it comprehensively clear who has migration ties in Germany}} nor {{qi|provides useful data on membership of a minority}}. In this context, the social anthropologist Anne-Kathrin Will explained that the use of the term could promote an {{qi|ethnically connotated}} understanding of being German, according to which {{qi|only those who are of German descent are German – despite the reform of citizenship law}}.{{Cite web |date=3 May 2016 |title=Muss der "Migrationshintergrund" neu definiert werden? |url=https://mediendienst-integration.de/artikel/wie-wird-der-migrationshintergrund-im-mikrozensus-erfasst.html |access-date=18 November 2017 |website=Mediendienst Integration}} The sociologist Kenneth Horvath also criticized the fact that the migration background serves as a category of difference to define the "other" and is in the ethnicizing tradition of terms such as foreigner. Furthermore, the concept does not statistically cover all those who are "meant" by it, but on the other hand it counts people who are not actually the subject of the discourse on migration backgrounds. The term is also rejected by many of those referred to by it because of its {{qi|essentializing and stigmatizing potential}}.{{Cite book |last=Horvath |first=Kenneth |title=Bildung und Teilhabe |date=2017 |publisher=Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden |isbn=978-3-658-13770-0 |pages=197–216 |chapter=Migrationshintergrund |doi=10.1007/978-3-658-13771-7_10}} In its 2021 report, the independent {{ill|expert commission on integration capacity|de|Fachkommission Integrationsfähigkeit}} appointed by the federal government recommended abandoning the statistical category of migration background because it now covers a very large and heterogeneous group, mixes nationality and migration experience at an analytical level, is unnecessarily complex and obscures rather than explains the causes of inequalities. For people who do not identify with the label, there is no way to "escape" it. Instead, the commission recommends speaking of {{qi|immigrants and their (direct) descendants}} when referring to immigrants and children of two immigrants.{{Cite web |last=Ahrens |first=Monika |date=9 February 2021 |title=Begriff "Migrationshintergrund" soll ausgetauscht werden |url=https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/fachkommission-integrationsfaehigkeit |access-date=3 August 2021 |website=deutschlandfunknova.de}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.fachkommission-integrationsfaehigkeit.de/resource/blob/1786706/1880170/5a5d62f9636b87f10fd0e271ba326471/bericht-de-artikel-data.pdf? |title=Gemeinsam die Einwanderungsgesellschaft gestalten – Bericht der Fachkommission der Bundesregierung zu den Rahmenbedingungen der Integrationsfähigkeit |publisher=Bundeskanzleramt |publication-date=November 2020 |format=PDF}}

In his speech on the 60th anniversary of the {{ill|German-Turkish recruitment agreement|de|Anwerbeabkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Türkei}}, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was time for a change of perspective, and explained: {{qi|If today more than a quarter of the people have a so-called migrant background, most of them born here, why do we still point at other people and say, 'these are people with a migrant background', as if they were somehow different, extraordinary, more foreign than 'us'? Who is this 'us'? No, ladies and gentlemen, you are not 'people with a migrant background' – we are a country with a migrant background!}}{{Cite web |last=Steinmeier |first=Franke-Walter |date=10 September 2021 |title=60 Jahre deutsch-türkisches Anwerbeabkommen |url=https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/DE/Frank-Walter-Steinmeier/Reden/2021/09/210910-Anwerbeabkommen-D-TUR.html |access-date=6 November 2021 |website=Reden, bundespraesident.de}}

Sociologist {{ill|Aladin El-Mafaalani|de}} believes that the term "migration background" covers too many things.{{Cite journal |last=Mahadevan |first=Jasmin |date=1 April 2024 |title=Migration, ethnic otherness and the 'refugee crisis' in Germany: Why more conflict is better integration, and how this reconfigures positive cross-cultural management scholarship |journal=International Journal of Cross Cultural Management |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=41–58 |doi=10.1177/14705958241234568 |issn=1470-5958 |doi-access=free}} It suggests that the group described in this way is somehow homogeneous. In reality, however, it is much more heterogeneous than the group without a migration background. Some are themselves immigrants, others belong to the second or even third generation, some only speak German, others primarily speak their native language. Country of origin, ethnic origin, religion and educational background are very different. This group cannot be tarred with the same brush. In a sense, it is "superdiverse".{{Cite web |title=Schule und Integration: "Klarer Hinweis darauf, dass es eigentlich schon zu spät ist" – WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/plus245700726/Schule-und-Integration-Klarer-Hinweis-darauf-dass-es-eigentlich-schon-zu-spaet-ist.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}

According to the 2007 microcensus, the population with migration background totalled 15.4 million people.{{Cite web |last=Nottmeyer |first=Olga |date=1 October 2009 |title=Wedding Bells Are Ringing: Increasing Rates of Intermarriage in Germany |url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/wedding-bells-are-ringing-increasing-rates-intermarriage-germany/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=migrationpolicy.org}}

According to the 2011 census 18.9% of the population in Germany had a migration background.{{Cite news |title=2011 Census: 80.2 million inhabitants lived in Germany on 9 May 2011 |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/2010_phc/Germany/Germany.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124194738/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/2010_phc/Germany/Germany.pdf |archive-date=24 January 2014 |access-date=4 November 2013 |publisher=Unstats.un.org}} The migrant population is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of southern and western Germany from Munich to the Ruhr area. In 2011, 42.7 percent of the population in Frankfurt am Main, 38.6 percent in Stuttgart and 36.2 percent in Nuremberg had a migration background.{{Cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=Matthias J. |last2=Zink |first2=Sabrina |last3=Koch |first3=Eckhardt |date=1 April 2018 |title=The Negative Impact of an Uncertain Residence Status: Analysis of Migration-Related Stressors in Outpatients with Turkish Migration Background and Psychiatric Disorders in Germany Over a 10-Year Period (2005–2014) |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10903-017-0555-y |journal=Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=317–326 |doi=10.1007/s10903-017-0555-y |issn=1557-1920 |pmid=28293898|url-access=subscription }} In Offenbach am Main, the number of people with migrant background and was around 50%.{{Cite web |date=31 May 2013 |title=Germany still divided, first census since reunification shows |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10090896/Germany-still-divided-first-census-since-reunification-shows.html |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=The Telegraph}}

In 2015, 21% of the population in Germany, or 17.1 million people, had a migration background, which represents an increase of 4.4% over the previous year. The majority of people who came to Germany in 2015 are not yet recorded here.

In 2019, 26% of the population in Germany, or 21.2 million people, had a migration background, an increase of 2.1% over the previous year.{{Cite web |date=28 July 2020 |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund 2019 um 2,1 % gewachsen: schwächster Anstieg seit 2011 |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2020/07/PD20_279_12511.html |access-date=28 July 2020 |website=destatis.de}}

In 2019, around 52% of the population with a migration background (11.1 million people) were German citizens and almost 48% were foreigners (10.1 million people).{{Cite web |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund 2019 um 2,1 % gewachsen: schwächster Anstieg seit 2011 |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2020/07/PD20_279_12511.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Statistisches Bundesamt |language=de}} The vast majority of the foreign population with a migration background immigrated themselves (85%), while 46% of Germans with a migration background immigrated themselves.{{Cite web |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland |url=https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Forschung/Veroeffentlichungen/Migrationsbericht2019/PersonenMigrationshintergrund/personenmigrationshintergrund-node.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241201022447/https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Forschung/Veroeffentlichungen/Migrationsbericht2019/PersonenMigrationshintergrund/personenmigrationshintergrund-node.html |archive-date=1 December 2024 |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=BAMF – Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge |language=de-DE}}

Of the Germans with a migration background, 51% have had German citizenship since birth. They have a migration background because at least one parent is foreign, naturalized, or a (late) re-settler. A further 25% are naturalized, 23% came to Germany themselves as (late) re-settlers, and around 1% have German citizenship through adoption.{{Cite web |title=Jede vierte Person in Deutschland hatte 2018 einen Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2019/08/PD19_314_12511.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Statistisches Bundesamt |language=de}}

According to an evaluation based on the 2022 microcensus, the proportion of people with an immigration history among all employed persons was 25 percent.{{Cite web |date=1 March 2024 |title=Sechs von zehn Erwerbstätigen in Reinigungsberufen haben eine Einwanderungsgeschichte |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2024/03/PD24_081_125.html |access-date=10 March 2024 |website=destatis.de |publisher=Statistisches Bundesamt}}

According to the results of the 2011 German census, 29.0% of the population with a migration background are Roman Catholic, 15.9% are members of a Protestant regional church, 6.5% are Eastern Orthodox, and 0.5% belong to Jewish communities. Muslims are provisionally included in the category {{qi|not belonging to any public religious community}}, which makes up a total of 36.1% of the population with a migration background.{{Cite web |title=ZENSUS2011 – Bevölkerungs- und Wohnungszählung 2011 – Religion |url=https://www.zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Zensus%202011/Methode/Aenderungen_Religion.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241219142231/https://www.zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Zensus%202011/Methode/Aenderungen_Religion.html |archive-date=19 December 2024 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=www.zensus2011.de |language=de}}

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of people with a migration background in 2005 was as follows:{{Cite web |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |date=24 April 2024 |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/zahlen-und-fakten/soziale-situation-in-deutschland/61646/bevoelkerung-mit-migrationshintergrund/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |language=de}}

• immigrant foreigners (1st generation): about 36 percent
• foreigners born in Germany (2nd and 3rd generation): about 11%
• Late repatriates: about 12%
• naturalized immigrants: about 20%
• Persons with at least one immigrant parent or parent with foreign citizenship: approximately 21%

File:Gerald Asamoah 2005.jpg, an Afro-German national football player, took part in the "{{ill|Du bist Deutschland|de}}" campaign in 2005.]]

Europe is particularly important for immigration to Germany in quantitative terms. 59.9% of immigrants since 1950 came from Europe in 2008. 23.5% of them came from the then 27 member states of the European Union. The eleven most important countries of origin in 2008 were:

• Turkey (with 14.2% of all immigrants)
• Russia (8.4%)
• Poland (6.9%)
• Italy (4.2%)
• Serbia and Montenegro (3.4%) (two states since 2006, and the new state of Kosovo since 2008)
• Kazakhstan (3.3%)
• Romania (3.0%)
• Croatia (2.6%)
• Greece (2.2%)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (2.2%)
• Ukraine (1.9%)

Statistical material can also be found in the ten graphics of a Spiegel Online article from 17 October 2010.{{Cite web |last=Reinbold |first=Fabian |date=15 October 2010 |title=Faktencheck zur Migration – Deutschland ist Auswanderungsland |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/faktencheck-zur-migration-deutschland-ist-auswanderungsland-a-723208.html |access-date=17 August 2020 |website=Spiegel Online}}

The major cities with a population with a migration background of at least 40% are mainly located in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. The highest proportion, at 66.5 percent, is in Offenbach am Main, which borders Frankfurt directly and has around 135,000 inhabitants (as of 2023). At the same time, the city of Offenbach had the second lowest average age among German cities and districts in 2021 at 40.8 years.{{Cite web |last=statista |date=2022 |title=Städte und Landkreise mit dem niedrigsten Durchschnittsalter in Deutschland im Jahr 2021 |url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1111916/umfrage/juengste-regionen-in-deutschland/ |access-date=3 January 2023 |publisher=statista}} Frankfurt had the highest percentage among major cities with 500,000 or more inhabitants in 2023 at 57.0 percent, followed by Nuremberg with 51.6 percent (2024) and Munich with 49.5 percent (2024).

In 2018, the {{ill|Sinus Institute|de|Sinus-Institut}} divided people with a migration background into ten social milieus known as the {{ill|Sinus migrant milieus|de|Sinus-Migrantenmilieus}} that differ in several respects:{{Cite web |title=Sinus-Migrantenmilieus |url=https://www.sinus-institut.de/en/sinus-milieus/sinus-migrant-milieus |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Sinus-Migrantenmilieus}}

People with a migration background in the living generation have worse health prospects. Maternal and infant mortality is increased, and infant and toddler mortality is 20 percent higher. Toddlers and school children are at above-average risk of accidents.{{Cite book |last=Zander |first=Margherita |title=Kinderarmut: Einführendes Handbuch für Forschung und soziale Praxis |date=2012 |publisher=VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften (GWV) |isbn=978-3-531-14450-4 |edition=1. Aufl |location=s.l.}}

Social epidemiological research repeatedly points out that a particular burden on migrants can also be proven in the second and third generation.{{Cite journal |last1=Donath |first1=Carolin |last2=Graessel |first2=Elmar |last3=Baier |first3=Dirk |last4=Bleich |first4=Stefan |last5=Hillemacher |first5=Thomas |date=26 April 2014 |title=Is parenting style a predictor of suicide attempts in a representative sample of adolescents? |journal=BMC Pediatrics |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=113 |doi=10.1186/1471-2431-14-113 |issn=1471-2431 |pmc=4011834 |pmid=24766881 |doi-access=free}}

In 2014, a representative study for Germany by Donath and colleagues showed that young people with a migration background living in Germany have a significantly higher risk of suicide attempts than their classmates without a migration background (study with over 44,000 9th grade students in Germany).{{Cite web |date=February 2019 |title=Epidemiology of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and direct self-injurious behavior in adolescents with a migration background: A representative study |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330811641 |website=ResearchGate}}

There are also negative health effects of self-reported experiences of discrimination among people with a migration background. The extent to which a migration background represents a medical risk factor for health-endangering substance use must be considered in a differentiated manner. It has been shown that young people with a migration background, for example, engage in binge drinking less often than young people without a migration background.{{Cite journal |last1=Donath |first1=Carolin |last2=Baier |first2=Dirk |last3=Graessel |first3=Elmar |last4=Hillemacher |first4=Thomas |date=14 November 2016 |title=Substance consumption in adolescents with and without an immigration background: a representative study—What part of an immigration background is protective against binge drinking? |journal=BMC Public Health |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=1157 |doi=10.1186/s12889-016-3796-0 |issn=1471-2458 |pmc=5109665 |pmid=27842534 |doi-access=free}}

A representative study from 2016 also shows that young people with a migration background drink alcohol significantly less often than young people without a migration background. However, they showed significantly earlier and higher consumption of tobacco and cannabis than young people without a migration background. This applied to both boys and girls.{{Cite journal |last1=Donath |first1=Carolin |last2=Baier |first2=Dirk |last3=Graessel |first3=Elmar |last4=Hillemacher |first4=Thomas |date=14 November 2016 |title=Substance consumption in adolescents with and without an immigration background: a representative study—What part of an immigration background is protective against binge drinking? |journal=BMC Public Health |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=1157 |doi=10.1186/s12889-016-3796-0 |issn=1471-2458 |pmc=5109665 |pmid=27842534 |doi-access=free}}

A study of adolescents with a migration background aged on average 15 years showed that the likelihood of binge drinking was positively associated with the type of school leaving certificate planned, with the family's independence from state financial support and with the adolescent's assimilation in the current (new) country. The risk of binge drinking among adolescents with a migration background was lower if they or their families preferred attitudes towards segregation from the current country of residence and strongly adhered to the traditions of their country of origin.

In 2014, 30.0% of the population with a migration background had a high school diploma or university of applied sciences entrance qualification, compared to 28.5% of the population without a migration background. At the same time, 46.5% of them have no vocational qualification, compared to 21.2% of the population without a migration background.{{Cite web |date=9 September 2015 |title=Bildung: Menschen ausländischer Herkunft haben häufiger Abitur als Deutsche |url=http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/einwohner-mit-migrationshintergrund-haben-haeufiger-abitur-als-deutsche-a-1051979.html |access-date=19 September 2015 |publisher=Spiegel online}}{{Cite web |date=8 September 2015 |title=30 % der Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund haben Abitur |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/zdw/2015/PD15_037_p002.html |access-date=19 September 2015 |website=Pressemitteilung |publisher=Statistisches Bundesamt}}

An OECD study from 2018 examined what percentage of students (with and without a migration background) have basic knowledge in the subjects of science, reading and mathematics. It was found that students with a migration background in both the first and second generation of immigrants performed significantly worse than students without a migration background. The difference was striking (more than 30 percentage points difference) in Finland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden and Germany.{{Cite web |last=Klovert |first=Heike |date=19 March 2018 |title=OECD-Schulstudie – Wie die Integration zugewanderter Kinder gelingt |url=https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/schule/oecd-schueler-mit-migrationshintergrund-schneiden-schlechter-ab-a-1198536.html |access-date=6 March 2019 |website=Spiegel Online}}

In 2006, sociologist Frank Gesemann showed that only 33.9% of foreign students in Germany attend a secondary school (middle school, high school), while this proportion is 60.8% for German students. The proportion of male students of non-German nationality who come from predominantly Muslim countries and attend a middle school or high school varies greatly, ranging from 50.2 percent (Iranians) to 12.7 percent (Lebanese). Attendance at secondary schools was also well below average among the group of Turks (26%), who represented the largest group among foreign students at 43.1%.{{Cite book |last=Gesemann |first=Frank |url=https://www.fachportal-paedagogik.de/literatur/vollanzeige.html?FId=3040159 |title=Die Integration junger Muslime in Deutschland. Bildung und Ausbildung als Schlüsselbereiche sozialer Integration. Studie im Auftrag der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Politische Akademie, Referat Interkultureller Dialog. |date=2006 |publisher=Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Politische Akad. |isbn=978-3-89892-581-5 |series=Islam und Gesellschaft. 5; Interkultureller Dialog |location=Berlin}}

In 2002, academic Dietrich Thränhardt described statements about students with a migration background as {{qi|not very clear and meaningful}}.{{Citation |last1=Hunger |first1=Uwe |title=Der Bildungserfolg von Einwandererkindern in den westdeutschen Bundesländern. Diskrepanzen zwischen den PISA-Studien und den amtlichen Schulstatistiken |date=2010 |work=Schieflagen im Bildungssystem: Die Benachteiligung der Migrantenkinder |pages=51–67 |editor-last=Auernheimer |editor-first=Georg |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-531-92198-3_4 |access-date=11 March 2025 |place=Wiesbaden |publisher=VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften |language=de |doi=10.1007/978-3-531-92198-3_4 |isbn=978-3-531-92198-3 |last2=Thränhardt |first2=Dietrich|url-access=subscription }} There are groups that do very well in the German school system, as well as those that do very poorly. The groups with the least success in school are those of Italian and Turkish nationals: in addition to a high number of school dropouts, both groups also have a particularly large group without any training, even if they have achieved a school leaving certificate (56.1% of Turks and 50.3% of Italians compared to 9.3% of Germans). The majority of students in these two groups are also found in Hauptschule, only smaller percentages attend Gymnasium and Realschulen.{{Cite web |title=Segregatie en selectie in het onderwijs in Duitsland |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254865011 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210719003530/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254865011_Segregatie_en_selectie_in_het_onderwijs_in_Duitsland |archive-date=19 July 2021 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=ResearchGate}}

File:Refugees from Vietnam landing in Hamburg, Germany 1986.jpg landing in Hamburg in 1986]]

On the other hand, there are many secondary school and high school students among students of Spanish, Russian, Polish, Croatian and Bosnian origin. They achieve similar academic success to German students. Likewise, the proportion of students of Vietnamese origin who attend high school has been above average for years, as studies by Beuchling have shown.{{Cite book |last=Beuchling |first=Olaf |title=Vom Bootsflüchtling zum Bundesbürger: Migration, Integration und schulischer Erfolg in einer vietnamesischen Exilgemeinschaft |date=2003 |publisher=Waxmann |isbn=978-3-8309-1278-1 |series=Interkulturelle Bildungsforschung |location=Münster}}

The academic performance of children with an ex-Yugoslav background is significantly better than that of their Turkish and Italian classmates, but not as good as that of ethnic Germans and German students (see tables below).

Statistically, children with a Greek migration background are even more likely to attend high school than Germans. No other immigrant group in Germany is more successful at school than the Vietnamese: over 50 percent of their students make it to high school. This means that a higher percentage of Vietnamese young people are aiming for the Abitur than Germans.{{Citation |last=Stadelmaier |first=Martin |title=Auf der Höhe der Zeit |date=2009 |work=Das Wunder von Mainz – Rundfunk als gestaltete Freiheit |pages=63–68 |url=https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845215013-63 |access-date=11 March 2025 |publisher=Nomos |doi=10.5771/9783845215013-63 |isbn=978-3-8452-1501-3|url-access=subscription }}

According to Cornelia Kristen (2002), students from some migrant groups receive worse school grades despite achieving similar results to others. This was cited to them having to attend worse schools.{{Cite journal |last=Kristen |first=Cornelia |date=September 2002 |title=Hauptschule, Realschule oder Gymnasium? |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-002-0073-2 |journal=KZFSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=534–552 |doi=10.1007/s11577-002-0073-2 |issn=0023-2653|url-access=subscription }}

Grades are the most important factor for the type of school attended, but not the only one. Children of German nationality attend Hauptschule less often than migrant children, even if their grades are equally poor – a distinction was made between Turkish, Italian, Yugoslavian, ethnic German or "other" nationality. Migrant children instead attend Realschule more often. When moving on to Gymnasium, however, there is no longer any effect of nationality if grades are controlled for. Migrant children have a particularly poor chance of going to Gymnasium or Realschule if they attend a school with many other migrant children. In such schools, they perform worse and achieve worse grades than in more socially heterogeneous schools. This result takes on particular significance in view of the pronounced ethnic segregation tendencies in the German primary school system. In segregated school systems in particular, migrant children are particularly likely to end up in primary school classes whose student body is relatively homogeneous and at a low level.{{Cite journal |last1=Woods |first1=Francesca |last2=Bond |first2=Caroline |date=June 2020 |title=How Does a Level 2 Rights Respecting School Facilitate Play for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? |journal=International Journal of Playwork Practice |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.25035/ijpp.01.01.01 |issn=2689-9124 |doi-access=free}}

In Germany and Austria, the {{ill|Start (scholarship)|lt=Start scholarship|de|Start (Stipendium)}} program supports selected young people with a migration background who achieve good to very good school results and are socially active.{{Cite web |date=30 October 2023 |title=START-Stiftung gGmbH – START Stipendium |url=https://www.mystipendium.de/stipendien/start-stiftung-stipendium |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=myStipendium |language=de}} A difficult family, economic or personal situation is also taken into account when selecting scholarship recipients.{{Cite web |date=28 January 2025 |title=Neue Stipendien der START-Stiftung: Die Start-Stiftung vergibt 2025 erneut Stipendien und Bildungsangebote an Jugendliche mit Migrationsbezug |url=https://www.nikolaus-koch-stiftung.de/neue-stipendien-der-start-stiftung-die-start-stiftung-vergibt-2025-erneut-stipendien-und-bildungsangebote-an-jugendliche-mit-migrationsbezug/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Nikolaus Koch Stiftung |language=de}}

In all eastern German states, there are more high school graduates and fewer special needs students among foreign young people than in all western states. Foreign students in eastern Germany tend to be less successful in high school than their western-based counterparts{{Cite web |last=Nehra |first=William |date=19 November 2020 |title=Study: How well do migrants integrate into the German school system? |url=https://www.iamexpat.de/education/education-news/study-how-well-migrants-integrate-german-school-system |access-date=May 6, 2025|website=IamExpat}} In Brandenburg, 44% of all foreign young people leave school with a high school diploma. This means that in Brandenburg there are even more high school graduates among immigrants than among Germans. There are early support programs (especially for late repatriates) and kindergartens throughout the country.{{Cite web |date=19 April 2006 |title="Ostlehrer integrieren Migrantenkinder besser" |url=https://taz.de/!444792/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=taz.de |language=de}}

The special study Where Immigrant Students Succeed – a comparative Review of Performance and Engagement from PISA 2003 (German title: Where do students with a migration background have the greatest chances of success? – A comparative analysis of performance and engagement in PISA 2003 ) determined whether migrant children are just as successful in the school system as students without a migration background.{{Cite journal |last=Schleicher |first=Andreas |date=1 December 2006 |title=Where immigrant students succeed: a comparative review of performance and engagement in PISA 2003 1: © OECD 2006 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14675980601063900 |journal=Intercultural Education |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=507–516 |doi=10.1080/14675980601063900 |issn=1467-5986|url-access=subscription }}

A first result was that there is no decisive connection between the number of students with a migration background in the sample countries on the one hand and the extent of the observed performance differences between students with and without a migration background on the other. This refutes the assumption that a high proportion of students with a migration background has a negative effect on integration.{{Cite web |date=14 May 2006 |title=Where Immigrant Students Succeed |url=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/where-immigrant-students-succeed_9789264023611-en.html |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=OECD}}

In the country comparison of this study, Germany is at the bottom of the list when it comes to the integration of second-generation migrant children. Although the study attests that migrant children are willing to learn and have a positive attitude, their chances of success in the German education system are lower than in any of the other 17 countries examined:

• On average, migrant children lag behind children without a migrant background by 48 points; in Germany, however, the figure is 70 points lower. The differences are greatest in the natural sciences and smallest in reading skills.
• While in almost all other participating countries, second-generation migrant children achieve higher performance scores, in Germany these scores fall even further: second-generation migrant children are around two years behind their classmates. Over 40% of them do not achieve the basic skills of level 2 in mathematics and also perform similarly poorly in reading skills.

More detailed studies based on the "PISA 2000" study show that it is not the origin as such, but (in addition to the language spoken in the parental home [Esser 2001; Kristen 2002]) the educational level of the parents, especially the mother, that determines educational successvgl. [https://web.archive.org/web/20030707123148/http://www.isoplan.de/aid/2003-1/forschung.htmNeue Erkenntnisse aus der PISA-Studie], isoplan, 30. Mai 2003, mit Verweis auf eine Studie des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung; siehe auch {{Cite book |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=392040 |title=Who's to Blame? The Determinants of German Students' Achievement in the PISA 2000 Study |date=2003 |publisher=Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung; IZA Institute of Labor Economics |ssrn=392040 |isbn=3-936454-04-3 |issn=1612-3565 |last1=Michael |first1=Fertig }} – a connection that was also found for students without a migration background.

{{Authority control}} However, it would be a statistical fallacy to say that young people who are immigrants themselves achieve better results than second-generation young people according to this table. The families of students born in Germany with an immigrant background are mostly of Turkish origin and these people perform particularly poorly in PISA. Among young people who are immigrants themselves, young people from ethnic German families are more strongly represented. These are usually better performers. It cannot therefore be said that the situation in Germany is getting worse over the generations. On the contrary: within the individual groups of origin, the educational situation seems to be improving from generation to generation.{{Cite web |last1=Soehn |first1=Janina |last2=Özcan |first2=Veysel |date=March 2006 |title=The Educational Attainment of Turkish Migrants in Germany |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232910930 |website=University of Göttingen}}

For each individual country of origin, young people born in Germany (i.e. second-generation students) achieve better results than young people born abroad (i.e. first-generation students). This is shown for example in the case of young people from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey in the area of mathematics. The same applies to other groups of origin and the areas of science and reading skills:{{Citation |last1=Sälzer |first1=Christine |title=Policy Implications of PISA in Germany |date=18 September 2017 |work=The PISA Effect on Global Educational Governance |pages=109–125 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315440521-8 |access-date=11 March 2025 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315440521-8 |isbn=978-1-315-44052-1 |last2=Prenzel |first2=Manfred|url-access=subscription }}

; Effects of language-heavy test tasks

It is possible that the poor performance of young people with a migration background in PISA is a result of language-heavy test items.{{Cite journal |last1=El Masri |first1=Yasmine H. |last2=Baird |first2=Jo-Anne |last3=Graesser |first3=Art |date=1 October 2016 |title=Language effects in international testing: the case of PISA 2006 science items |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0969594X.2016.1218323 |journal=Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=427–455 |doi=10.1080/0969594X.2016.1218323 |issn=0969-594X}} The items in PISA differ in terms of their language-heavy nature. In particular, items that measure technical skills require minimal language instructions, while others require more text.{{Citation |last1=Feskens |first1=Remco |last2=Fox |first2=Jean-Paul |last3=Zwitser |first3=Robert |editor1-last=Veldkamp |editor1-first=Bernard P. |editor2-last=Sluijter |editor2-first=Cor |title=Differential Item Functioning in PISA Due to Mode Effects |date=2019 |work=Theoretical and Practical Advances in Computer-based Educational Measurement |pages=231–247 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-18480-3_12 |access-date=11 March 2025 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-18480-3_12 |isbn=978-3-030-18480-3|url-access=subscription }}

It was examined whether students with a migration background solved less language-intensive tasks better. This was not the case. Instead, the opposite appears to be the case: students with a migration background perform slightly better on language-intensive tasks than on relatively language-free tasks. The reasons for this are unclear. It is clear that the low average competence of students with a migration background is not due to poorer results in language-dependent sub-competencies.

Since January 2005, the {{ill|Integration through Qualification|de|Integration durch Qualifizierung}} network has been operating nationwide to improve integration into the labour market for people with a migration background. Since January 2011, there has been a funding program that creates and promotes structures and process chains to improve integration into the labour market.{{Cite web |title=Integration durch Qualifizierung (IQ) |url=https://www.netzwerk-iq.de/foerderprogramm-iq/programmuebersicht |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=netzwerk-iq |language=de}}

Various studies and experiments show that applications from people whose names indicate a migration background – especially those with Arabic-sounding names – are less likely to be considered when they are equally qualified.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2018 |title=WZB-Studie – Ethnische Diskriminierung bei der Jobsuche |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/wzb-studie-ethnische-diskriminierung-bei-der-jobsuche-100.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Deutschlandfunk |language=de}}

After the start of the migration background survey (HEGA 07/2011-07), the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced that it is obliged to collect data on migration backgrounds and to take them into account in its labor market and basic security statistics (Section 281 Paragraph 2 SGB III, Section 53 Paragraph 7 Sentence 1 SGB II). Answering the questions is voluntary. The data is entered into the central personal data management system (zPDV) and may only be used for statistical purposes.{{Cite web |date=21 November 2016 |title=HEGA 11/11 – 12 – Erhebung der Daten zu Merkmalen des Migrationshintergrundes |url=https://www3.arbeitsagentur.de/web/content/DE/Detail/index.htm?dfContentId=L6019022DSTBAI431748 |access-date=18 November 2017 |website=Bundesagentur für Arbeit}} Details of the procedure are contained in the Migration Background Survey Ordinance (MighEV).{{Cite web |title=MighEV - nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis |url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/mighev/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}

The definition of people with a migration background in Austria corresponds to that of the Recommendations for the 2010 censuses of population and housing issued by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).{{Cite web |title=Foreign background |url=https://www.statistik.at/en/statistics/population-and-society/population/migration-and-naturalisation/foreign-background |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=STATISTICS AUSTRIA}} Accordingly, in Austria, people with a migration background are referred to as such if both parents were born abroad. In addition, a distinction is made between:{{Cite web |title=Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.statistik.at/statistiken/bevoelkerung-und-soziales/bevoelkerung/migration-und-einbuergerung/migrationshintergrund |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=STATISTIK AUSTRIA |language=de-AT}}

• First-generation migrants whose own place of birth, as well as that of both parents, is abroad.
• Second-generation migrants whose own place of birth is in Austria and that of both parents abroad.{{Cite web |date=8 September 2020 |title=Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten nach Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/menschen_und_gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_migrationshintergrund/index.html |access-date=7 January 2021 |website=statistik.at}}

The migration background according to this definition can only be represented since 2008 using the microcensus labour force survey.{{Cite web |last=Brandstätter |first=Dagmar |date=December 2010 |title=Migration und Arbeitsmarktpolitik für MigrantInnen in Österreich |url=https://forschungsnetzwerk.ams.at/elibrary/publikation?bibId=8485 |website=AMS}} According to this, in 2008, 1.426 million people in Austria, or 17.4% of the Austrian population, had a migration background – that is, two parents born abroad. 1.063 million of them were themselves born abroad and thus correspond to people with a migration background of the first generation. The remaining 363,300 people of the second generation were already born in Austria, but the place of birth of both parents is abroad. On average in 2019, the number of people with a migration background living in Austria was 2.070 million (23.7% of the population), of which 1.528 million were first-generation immigrants and around 542,000 people with a second-generation migration background.{{Cite web |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund seit 2008 |url=https://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/menschen_und_gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_migrationshintergrund/069443.html |access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Statistik Austria}}

Overall, in 2019, only around 36% of people with a migration background living in Austria had Austrian citizenship – among first-generation citizens, the proportion was 27% and among second-generation citizens, 63%.{{Cite web |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund im Überblick (Jahresdurchschnitt 2019) |url=https://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/menschen_und_gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_migrationshintergrund/033240.html |access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Statistik Austria}} In 2022, the proportion of people with a migration background was only above the national average of 27.2% in the federal capital Vienna with 50.3% and in Vorarlberg with 29.1%.{{Cite web |title=Gut jede vierte Person in Deutschland hatte 2021 einen Migrationshintergrund |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2022/04/PD22_162_125.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=Statistisches Bundesamt |language=de}}

Migrant background is considered a factor in Austrian young peoples mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite journal |last1=Pieh |first1=Christoph |last2=Dale |first2=Rachel |last3=Jesser |first3=Andrea |last4=Probst |first4=Thomas |last5=Plener |first5=Paul L Plener |last6=Humer |first6=Elke |date=17 January 2022 |editor-last=Giannotta |editor-first=Fabrizia |editor2-last=Kim |editor2-first=Yunhwan |title=The Impact of Migration Status on Adolescents' Mental Health during COVID-19 |journal=Healthcare |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=176 |doi=10.3390/healthcare10010176 |pmc=8775882 |pmid=35052338 |doi-access=free}}

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), a person with a migration background is defined as a person – regardless of their nationality:{{Cite web |title=Migration und Integration |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/migration-integration.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=www.bfs.admin.ch |language=de}}

• who immigrated to Switzerland as a migrant;
• whose immediate (direct) descendants were born in Switzerland;
• whose parents were born abroad.

Of the approximately 8.1 million inhabitants, the Federal Statistical Office has collected the following data on migration status – but only for residents aged 15 and over:{{Cite web |date=20 September 2021 |title=Migration and Migration Policy in Switzerland |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/regionalprofile/english-version-country-profiles/switzerland/340382/migration-and-migration-policy-in-switzerland/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |language=de}} In the whole of Switzerland, 2,374,000 inhabitants (35 percent) have a migration background.{{Cite web |date=13 October 2022 |title=Almost four out of ten Swiss residents have migration background |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/almost-four-out-of-ten-swiss-residents-have-migration-background/47976978 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}

Children of migrants born in Switzerland are called Secondos.{{Cite web |last=Slater |first=Julia |date=6 December 2010 |title=Swiss-born foreigners face passport hurdles |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/swiss-born-foreigners-face-passport-hurdles/28925260 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}} In order to integrate some individuals adopt Swiss names.{{Cite web |date=2 March 2009 |title=Foreigners want to be able to 'Swissify' names |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/foreigners-want-to-be-able-to-swissify-names/32412 |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}} They are considered disadvantaged compared to natives.{{Cite web |last=Januzi |first=Shkurta |date=13 December 2022 |title=39% of Switzerland's Population Had a Migration Background in 2021 |url=https://schengen.news/39-of-switzerlands-population-had-a-migration-background-in-2021/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=SchengenNews}}

On 12 February 2017, the "Federal Decree of 30 September 2016 on the simplified naturalisation of third-generation foreigners" was adopted in a referendum. The decree is intended to facilitate naturalisation for grandchildren of immigrants born in Switzerland.{{Cite web |title=Bundesbeschluss über die erleichterte Einbürgerung von Personen der dritten Ausländergeneration |url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/abstimmungen/20170212/bundesbeschluss-ueber-die-erleichterte-einbuergerung-von-persone.html |access-date=6 December 2019 |website=admin.ch}} People of migrant background are disadvantaged.{{Cite web |title=Die Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund hat in der Schweiz seit 2012 um 4 Prozentpunkte zugenommen |url=https://www.news.admin.ch/de/nsb?id=92147 |access-date=18 March 2025 |website=www.admin.ch}}

The recording of migration background or other comparable statistical or socio-demographic categories varies worldwide both in terms of data collection and the aggregation of domestically and foreign-born populations.{{Cite web |last=Supik |first=Linda |date=2017 |title=Expertise: Wie erfassen andere europäische Staaten den "Migrationshintergrund"? |url=https://mediendienst-integration.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Expertise_Migrationshintergrund_andere_Laender.pdf |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=Mediendienst Integration}} The term is translated into English by the EU as migratory background but is not used according to this definition in the Anglophone countries.{{Cite web |date=6 December 2016 |title=person with a migratory background |url=https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/person-migratory-background_en |access-date=3 January 2021}}

In the United States and Canada, the population is recorded according to the immigrant generation.{{Cite web |last1=Aydemir |first1=Abdurrahman |last2=Sweetman |first2=Arthur |date=22 September 2006 |title=First and Second Generation Immigrant Educational Attainment and Labor Market Outcomes: A Comparison of the United States and Canada |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=932037 |website=SSRN |publisher=Sabanci University |ssrn=932037}} First generation (or foreign born) immigrants are those whose parents do not have citizenship of the destination country; second generation are those who were born in the country and have at least one immigrant parent. Third generation refers to people who were born in the country and both parents were also born there.{{Cite web |date=7 February 2013 |title=Second-Generation Americans |url=https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/02/07/second-generation-americans/ |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project}}{{Cite web |title=Generation status: Canadian-born children of immigrants |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011003_2-eng.cfm |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=Statistics Canada}}

In the United Kingdom, the category of immigrant is used for statistical purposes.{{Cite web |date=27 February 2025 |title=Immigration explained: Migrants, refugees, and visas defined |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7veer980go |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=BBC News}} Immigrants are classified in different ways to describe economic migrants and asylum seekers.{{Cite news |date=27 June 2019 |title=Migration: How many people come to work and study in the UK and what are the rules? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48785695 |access-date=11 March 2025}}

Children of migrants born in the United Kingdom are not themselves considered migrants. In addition, unlike in Germany, ethnic groups are recorded. The situation is similar in Poland, where immigrants (przybysze) and members of national or ethnic minorities are recorded.

In France, foreigners (étranger), immigrants (immigré, which includes foreign nationals and naturalised citizens), and occasionally children of immigrants (descendants d'immigrés) are recorded statistically. The latter include children with at least one immigrant parent.

In the Netherlands, since 1995, people have been recorded as autochthonous, allochthonous from Western countries of origin (including Europe, North America, Oceania, Japan and Indonesia) and allochthonous from non-Western countries of origin. The country of birth of the parents' and grandparents' generation plays a role in the categorization as allochthonous. In 2016, the Dutch government's Scientific Council recommended speaking of {{qi|residents with a migration background}} ({{lang|nl|inwoners met migratieachtergrond}}) and {{qi|residents with a Dutch background}} ({{lang|nl|Inwoners met nederlandse achtergrond}}).

In Sweden, a foreign background (utländsk bakgrund) is recorded for people whose parents were both born abroad, including people born in Sweden.{{Cite web |title=Utländsk bakgrund {{!}} Begrepp {{!}} Statistikcentralen |url=https://www.stat.fi/meta/kas/ulkomaalaistaus_sv.html |access-date=3 January 2021}} People who have one parent born in Sweden and one born abroad do not have a foreign background. In addition, people born abroad (utrikes födda) are counted. People born abroad to Swedish parents are not counted as immigrants.

In Spain, the population of immigrants (inmigrante) has grown over time. In the 2000s its foreign-born population increasing from 2% in 2000 to 11% in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Governance of migrant integration in Spain |url=https://migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/country-governance/governance-migrant-integration-spain_en |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=European Website on Integration}}

In Turkey, immigrants (göçmen) have gained prominence in recent years.{{Cite web |last=Habertürk |title=Göçmen Nedir, Ne Demek? TÜBİTAK Ansiklopedi ile Göçmen Ne Anlama Gelir ve Neyi İfade Eder? |url=https://www.haberturk.com/tubitak-ansiklopedi/gocmen-nedir |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Habertürk |language=tr}} The mass migration of Syrian refugees since 2011 turned Turkey into a net-immigration country.{{Cite web |last=Kaya |first=Ayhan |date=30 October 2023 |title=The World's Leading Refugee Host, Turkey Has a Complex Migration History |url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/turkey-migration-history |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=migrationpolicy.org}} This has not been without controversy.{{Cite web |last=Wilks |first=Andrew |title=Fresh refugee arrivals in Turkey renew anti-migrant sentiments |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/28/fresh-refugee-arrivals-in-turkey-renew-anti-migrant-feelings |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Al Jazeera}}

The category of migration background (German: Migrationshintergrund) marks people who, due to their migration history or that of their family, do not conform to the unquestioned norm.{{Cite web |last=Will |first=Anne-Kathrin |date=13 January 2025 |title="Einwanderungsgeschichte" Das neue Konzept zur Unterscheidung der Bevölkerung in Deutschland |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/regionalprofile/deutschland/558144/einwanderungsgeschichte/ |website=www.bpb.de}} They are expected to integrate into the majority society, but people without a migration background do not have to. The category thus perpetuates the exclusion of people identified as migrants. It creates the impression that difference is not constitutive for every society, but is only attributed to "the others" (othering), namely people with a migration background. For this reason, social scientists and those affected criticize the term and recommend that it be abandoned. The German ethnologist {{ill|Martin Sökefeld|de}}, on the other hand, points out that the category was created to identify discrimination and counteract it with support measures.{{Citation |last1=Sökefeld |first1=Martin |title=Problematische Begriffe: "Ethnizität", "Rasse", "Kultur", "Minderheit" |date=2007 |pages=31–50 |editor-last=Schmidt-Lauber |editor-first=Brigitta |url=https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/29311/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |place=Berlin |publisher=Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München |isbn=978-3-496-02797-3 |last2=Schmidt-Lauber |first2=Brigitta}} Abolishing the category would not eliminate the discrimination that actually exists. He therefore advocates problematizing it and continuing to use it in a reflective manner. This is the only way to achieve the goal of making language use as unessentialist and exclusionary as possible.{{Cite web |title=Publications – Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology – LMU Munich |url=https://www.en.ethnologie.uni-muenchen.de/staff/professors/soekefeld/publications/index.html |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=www.en.ethnologie.uni-muenchen.de}}

{{Portal|Germany}}

• Immigration to Germany

{{reflist}}

• Stefan Böckler, Ansgar Schmitz-Veltin (Hrsg.): Migrationshintergrund in der Statistik – Definition, Erfassung und Vergleichbarkeit. In: Materialien zur Bevölkerungsstatistik. Heft 2, Verband Deutscher Städtestatistiker, Köln 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-922421-53-5}} (PDF-Download möglich).
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Hrsg.): Lebenswelten von Migrantinnen und Migranten. In: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte. Heft 5, 2009 (PDF; 2,8 MB auf bpb.de).
• Ruth-Esther Geiger: Ihr seid Deutschland, wir auch. Junge Migranten erzählen. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-518-46009-2}}
• Helmut Groschwitz: Kritische Anmerkungen zur populären Zuschreibung „Migrationshintergrund". In: Rheinisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde 39 (2011/2012), S. 129–141. Volltext auf academia.edu.
• Léa Renard: Mit den Augen der Statistiker.Deutsche Kategorisierungspraktiken von Migration im historischen Wandel, in: {{ill|Zeithistorische Forschungen|de}} 15 (2018), S. 431–451.
• Ilka Sommer, Andreas Heimer, Melanie Henkel: Familien mit Migrationshintergrund. Lebenssituation, Erwerbsbeteiligung und Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf. Prognos AG, Geschäftsstelle Zukunftsrat Familie des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, Berlin November 2010 (PDF; 2,9 MB; 106 Seiten auf prognos.com).
• Erol Yildiz, Marc Hill (Hrsg.): Nach der Migration. Postmigrantische Perspektiven jenseits der Parallelgesellschaft. transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-8376-2504-2}}

• Mahrokh Charlier: [https://www.psychoanalyse-aktuell.de/artikel-/detail?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=85&cHash=b169279523de4ee63021add3e18e222f Integration ohne Vorbilder.] In: psychoanalyse-aktuell.de. November 2006.
• Linda Supik: [https://mediendienst-integration.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Expertise_Migrationshintergrund_andere_Laender.pdf Expertise – Wie erfassen andere europäische Staaten den „Migrationshintergrund"?] (PDF; 404{{nbs}}kB) In: mediendienst-integration.de. January 2017.
• [http://www.iberer.angekommen.com/index.html Angekommen ... Bahnhof Köln-Deutsch: Migrantengeschichten aus 40{{nbs}}Jahren.] In: angekommen.com. {{ill|DOMiD|lt=DOMiD|de|DOMiD}}, 2004 (preisgekrönte Zusammenstellung zur portugiesischen und spanischen Einwanderung).
• Jeannine Kantara: [http://www.zeit.de/online/2008/04/migrationshintergrund/komplettansicht Das Aussehen zählt. Alle sprechen vom Migrationshintergrund. Aber was bedeutet das eigentlich?] In: Zeit online, 22 January 2008, retrieved 21 September 2014 (über den Migrationshintergrund, u.{{nbs}}a. mit Bezugnahme auf diesen Wikipedia-Artikel).
• Marina Mai: [http://www.zeit.de/2007/14/Bildungswunder_Ost Bildungswunder Ost.] In: Zeit online, 29 March 2007, retrieved 21 September 2014 (in Ostdeutschland sind Migranten schulisch erfolgreicher als im Westen).
• [https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/MigrationIntegration.html Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis): Daten zu Personen mit Migrationshintergrund.]
• Ingrid Thurner: [https://www.diepresse.com/565186/wer-will-schon-bdquomigrantldquo-sein Wer will schon "Migrant" sein?] In: Die Presse. 14 May 2010.

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Category:Sociology of immigration

Category:Migration policy

Category:National statistical services

Category:Immigration to Germany

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