War‐wounded refugees: labor market integration after two years in Sweden

This study investigated labor market integration in a group of war‐wounded refugees after two years in Sweden. The study group consisted of 54 war‐wounded asylum applicants ( n =25) and quota refugees ( n =29) who arrived in Sweden in the late 1980s. They were consecutively investigated during hospitalization, shortly after arrival, and followed up two years later. After two years, 24% were at work or were occupied in vocational training courses. The degree of disability was not related to labor market integration. Length of time spent in the municipality was directly associated with labor market integration. Present well‐being, Swedish language skill and education were factors related to integration. However, these factors differed in their relation to labor market integration when the length of time spent in the municipality was considered. With respect to the first two years in Sweden, the war‐wounded group seemed to follow well an ideal labor market integration process for refugees. A short wait for a municipality to reside in and a careful introduction into the municipality might have been available for this group more than for other refugees.