ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the interrelationship between social policy and labour market integration of migrant workers. It identifies certain historic developments, social problems, interests and constellations of political actors as causes of the emergence of welfare states and the formation of their various social policy institutions. The chapter describes institutional advantages in social policy to overcome marginalisation of migrant workers in segregated labour markets and explores how social policy can contribute to less restrictive migration policies and more successful integration policies. Migration policy and social policy are only weakly harmonised despite ample evidence of common European regulations in them. In particular, universal pension benefits, which rely on residency rather than being tied to prior contributions, could give an incentive to welfare migration. The chapter examines empirically at recent welfare reforms in Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden and argues that, to what extent they have reformed their basic pension in respect to European integration and Eastern enlargement.
