Immigrants' Entitlement to Social Services in UK, Germany, Sweden, and Japan

Abstract

In this article, I aim to discuss the status of social service coverage for migrants in some key welfare states and draw implications for Korea’s social security system. For this, I analyzed the status of social service entitlements for foreigners in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Japan, focusing on the areas of care and housing. The majority of social care programs in Germany and Sweden are available to foreign nationals residing there legally. In Japan, foreigners can apply as nationals for many care and housing services, and long-term foreign residents can receive a wide range of services under the system. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, many social services are unavailable to foreigners due to restrictions imposed by the immigration policy on social security benefits for foreigners. It is necessary to explore ways to improve social security concentrating on resident foreigners at the level of domestic social policy and migration policy.