Migrant background

Defining a migrant background is neither uniform nor clear. The Federal Statistical Office provides a well-established definition according to which persons have a migrant background if the persons themselves or at least one parent did not acquire German citizenship by birth. In detail, this definition includes: immigrant and non-immigrant foreigners, immigrant and non-immigrant naturalised persons, late repatriates, persons who have obtained German citizenship through adoption by a German parent and descendants born with German citizenship of the four previous groups (Statistisches Bundesamt 2022: 5).
In the concrete research case, an attempt is usually made to approximate this definition as closely as possible on the basis of the variables available. However, since complete congruence can rarely be achieved, there are different operationalisations of migrant background, even within the BIBB.

Origin/Creator:	Federal Statistical Office et al.
Method/Structure:	For BIBB’s purposes, the variables nationality and mother tongue serve primarily to represent a migrant background. An overview of the operationalisation of a migrant background basing on selected BIBB data provide Settelmeyer and Erbe in in their academic discussion paper from 2010.
Development/implementation for Germany:	-

Keywords

nationality, mother tongue, foreigners, immigration

Migrant background

Fundamental literature: Statistisches Bundesamt (2022): Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit. Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2020 –. Fachserie 1 Reihe 2.2, Statistisches Bundesamt: Wiesbaden.

Settelmeyer, Anke, Erbe, Jessica (2010): Migrationshintergrund. Zur Operationalisierung des Begriffs in der Berufsbildungsforschung. Wissenschaftliche Diskussionspapiere. Schriftenreihe des Bundesinstituts für Berufsbildung, Heft 112.