Data extracted in September 2024.
Planned article update: August 2025.
Highlights
In 2023, over a quarter of households in the EU had at least one foreign-born member or a member with one or more parents born abroad.
In the EU in 2023, among multi-adult households, foreign-born households were more likely to have children than native-born and mixed households.
Among single-adult households with children, 58.8% of native-born adults with native-born parents were working full-time, compared with 49.2% of native-born adults with foreign-born parents and 38.2% of foreign-born adults.
This article presents statistics on the migration background of adults in private households in the European Union (EU) and examines the household composition of various household types, focusing on single-adult and multi-adult households. It is one of a set of statistical articles concerning foreign-born people and their descendants in the EU and forms part of the online publication Foreign-born people and their descendants.
Key findings
The types of households have been categorised based on the migration background (defined in terms of place of birth) of adults within the household. An article on the main characteristics of foreign-born people and their descendants provides an overview of the migration background of individuals.
For single-adult households, the household migration background reflects the migration background of that person:
- Household of native-born with native background (household where the adult is a native-born person with both parents native-born).
- Household of native-born with foreign background (household where the adult is a native-born with one or both parents born abroad)
- Household of foreign-born (household where the adult is a foreign-born).
For multi-adult households (those with more than one adult), the same three categories apply when all members share the same migration background. However, adults of a household may have different migration backgrounds. Therefore, one additional category is included:
- Mixed household (households where at least two adults have different migration backgrounds, including native-born with a native background, native-born with a foreign background, and foreign-born).
In addition, there are households where the migration background is not available. These are mostly households where the majority of adults are aged 75 years and over and for whom no information on the migration background of their parents was surveyed. In the following sections, to facilitate the reading of the figures and the comparison between the household migration background, these households where the migration background is not available, were excluded from the analysis.
- In the EU In 2023, over 25% of households across the European Union included at least one individual who was either born in a foreign country or a native-born adult with one or both foreign-born parents.
- In 2023, 36.3% of households consisting of native-born adults with native-born parents were single-adult households. This percentage was significantly higher (over 70%) among native-born adults with at least one foreign-born parent, while it stood at 47.5% for households where all adults were born in a foreign country.
- In 2023, multi-adult households foreign born were more likely to have children than other multi-adult households.
- Among single-adult households with children, 58.8% of native-born adults with native background were working full-time. This percentage was 49.2% for native-born adults with foreign background and 38.2% for foreign-born adults.
Household composition by migration background
In 2023, 35.2% of households consisted of a single adult: among these, 76.4% were households of a native-born with native background, 15.9% were of a foreign-born adult, and 7.7% were of a native-born with foreign background (Figure 1).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
Among multi-adult households, 73.1% were households where all members were native-born with native background. The next largest group consisted of mixed household (15.6%) while households where all members were foreign-born accounted for 9.6%. Much lower percentage was observed for households where all members were native-born with foreign background (1.7%).
Figure 2 shows the distribution of single-adult households by migration background, focusing on whether they included children or not. Across all groups, the percentage of households with children was around 10%: households of native-born with a foreign background had the highest percentage at 12.4%, while those with a native background had the lowest at 8.9%. Households of foreign-born were close to the average at 10.7%.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
As shown in Figure 3, couples with children were most common in households of foreign-born (38.3%), while native-born households with a foreign background had the highest proportion of couples without children (49.1%). Households of foreign-born were more likely to have children, while households of native-born and mixed households tended to be childless couples (Figure 3).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
Figures 4 and 5 show the distribution of households by migration background and single country, divided into single-adult households and multi-adult households.
For single-adult households, the EU average consisted of 76.4% households of native-born with a native background, 15.9% households of foreign-born, and 7.7% households of native-born with a foreign background. Countries with a predominantly high share of households of native-born with a native background included Poland and Hungary, with 95.5% and 94.5%, respectively. Countries with the highest share of households of foreign-born were Luxembourg (58.0%) and Cyprus (33.1%), whereas Latvia (22.0%) and Estonia (20.0%) showed a notable share of households of native-born with a foreign background.
(% of all households)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
At EU level, 73.0% of multi-adult households consisted of native-born adults with a native background, 15.7% were mixed households, 9.6% were households of foreign-born adults, and 1.7% were households of native-born adults with a foreign background (Figure 5). In Poland and Hungary, households of native-born adults with a native background accounted for 95.1% and 92.7% of the total, respectively, followed by Lithuania, Czechia and Italy, where the proportion exceeded 80%. Luxembourg had the lowest share of households of native-born adults with a native background, at 19.6%, and the highest proportion of households of foreign-born adults, at 43.4%. Regarding other types of households, Latvia reported the highest share of mixed households (34.3%), while Estonia had the highest share of households of native-born adults with a foreign background (8.1%).
Labour market situation of different types of households
For single-adult households without children, the working status was about 50% of adults working full-time, regardless the migration background (Figure 6). Households of native-born individuals with a foreign background reported the highest share of adults working part-time (14.4%), while households of native-born adults with a native background showed the highest share of adults not working (40.4%). The presence of a child in the household had a significant effect across the different household migration backgrounds: For native-born individuals with a native background, the share of those working full-time increased from 49.7% to 58.8% and for those working part-time from 9.9% to 20.5% compared with the same group without children. For native-born individuals with a foreign background, a significant increase was reported in part-time work (from 14.4% to 26.6%), while the same share was observed for those working full-time (49.2%). By contrast, the presence of a child in foreign-born households reduced the overall proportion of those working. The share of part-time workers increased (from 13.4% to 23.1%), but this was more than compensated by a decrease in full-time work, which dropped from 51.1% in households without children to 38.2% in households with children.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
For multi-adult households without children, the vast majority had at least one adult working, with percentages ranging from 62.4% for households of native-born with a foreign background to 81.4% for mixed households (Figure 7). The shares of households with at least one working adult increased for all the households with children, regardless the migration background: the largest difference was observed in households entirely composed of native-born individuals with a foreign background (62.4% in households without children compared with 95.4% in households with children). The highest value for households with children and at least one working adult was recorded for households of native-born adults with a native background (96.3%).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_hhmgscomp)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The data presented in this article are from the labour force survey, the largest household sample survey in the EU. The LFS covers the resident population, defined as all people usually residing in private households. Usual residence means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. The data presented in the article may not be fully consistent with census statistics as LFS covers private households and excludes collective households. The data for the EU are aggregated results for the 27 EU Member States.
Due to the sampling nature of the EU-LFS, some data are with low reliability or not shown due to very low reliability or confidentiality. Such cases are duly marked in the footnotes below the figures and tables. In several EU Member States, the detailed cross-classification of households according to their migration status, their composition and the working status of their adults identifies quite small numbers of people. As the data source is a sample survey, the reliability of data in such cases may be low: data that are of low quality are published with an appropriate footnote while some data cannot be published for reasons of confidentiality.
Households by migration status of adults
Please note that, in this article the term 'migration background' has been used instead of 'migration status', which is used in the EU-LFS data collection methodology. The migration status is assigned to the households where individual information on the migration status is available for at least half of the adult household members. Information on the migration status is not available in the following situations.
- There is no answer to the question(s) on the country of birth, country of birth of the father or country of birth of the mother. Households where the majority of adults have no answer to those questions are classified as unknown regarding the migration status of the household as a whole.
- For people aged 75 years and over the questions on the country of birth of their parents are not asked. Households where the majority of adults are aged 75 years and over are classified as not available regarding the migration status of the household as a whole.
If the migration status is available for some but not all adults in the household, priority is given in the classification of the household by migration status to the adults with available information if they represent the majority of all household members.
Additionally, there are some rare cases of households in which no adults live. These could be households of so-called emancipated minors. Those cases are also classified as not available regarding the migration status of the household as a whole.
In line with international standards, a child is defined as a household member aged less than 18 years. Persons aged 18 years and over are considered as adults.
Households with two adults (not a couple) or more, also referred to as 'other type' of households in this article.
Calculation of shares in totals
Nearly all of the figures in this article present shares of a total. For each of the three analyses presented (household migration status, household composition and working status within households), there is a certain amount of non-response (also called 'unknown'). Wherever possible, the calculation of all shares used in this article is based on a total excluding the number of people classified in the non-response category. As such, all exhaustive breakdowns presented in figures should sum to 100.0% (allowing for rounding errors).
Note for Spain and France
Spain and France have assessed respondents' attachment to their job and included in employment those who, in their reference week, had an unknown duration of absence but expected to return to the same job once health measures allow it.
Context
With respect to migration status, the data in this article provide information not only on households including foreign-born adults living in the EU but also about native-born adults with at least one foreign-born parent living in households in the EU.
Migrants play an important role in the labour markets and economies of the countries in which they settle. Comprehensive and comparable data on the situation of foreign-born people and the immediate descendants of foreign-born people aim to monitor progress on the situation of migrants and to analyse the factors affecting their integration in and adaptation to the labour market and in the economy.
More information on the policies and legislation in force in this area can be found in an introductory article: Migrant integration statistics introduced.
Notes
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Methodology
- LFS series – Detailed annual survey results (ESMS metadata file – lfsa_esms)
- EU labour force survey