Migration and Northern European welfare states

The chapter introduces the public and academic discussion about a progressive dilemma. The chapter describes the Northern European context; emphasising the presence of welfare states and the increased inflow of immigrants. The chapter also establishes a conceptual framework distinguishing between the level of inflow of immigration and the level of integration of residents within a given nation-state. The chapter argues that the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Germany by the mid1980 came close to the ideal type of an integrated low-inflow state. In terms of the specific integration of immigrants, the chapter describes the remarkable difference between high levels of naturalization in Sweden and the Netherlands and low levels in Denmark and Sweden. Finally, the chapter describes how the inflow of migrants around 2015 became the most salient public concern in both Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.