Refugees find jobs faster when living in private homes than in government housing.
March 31, 2026
Original Paper
How Initial Accommodation Shapes Refugee Integration: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the Ukrainian Displacement Crisis in Denmark
SocArXiv · eh9cd_v1
The Takeaway
Comparing Ukrainian refugees in Denmark, the study found that 'private hosting' (living with citizens) led to significantly higher employment and better well-being than official public housing. The informal social networks provided by a host family were more effective than state-run integration programs.
From the abstract
Sudden displacement crises require rapid expansion of refugee accommodation, yet little is known about how different types of initial housing affect integration outcomes. Exploiting linked administrative registers covering the full population of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Denmark in Spring 2022 and a representative survey, we classify each refugee’s initial accommodation from address and co-residence records and track outcomes for 18 months. The majority of arrivals during the peak were abso