SUBJECTIVE POVERTY AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN EUROPE Axel West Pedersen and Morten Blekesaune Norwegian Social Research – NOVA ABSTRACT In this paper we explore the issue of subjective poverty among immigrants based on data from the three first rounds of the European Social Survey (2002–2006). Poverty research shows that immigrants originating from poorer countries are an economically underprivileged group in Europe, making up a high and seemingly increasing share of those classified as poor according to conventional criteria. Research also shows that subjective and objective assessments of economic well- being are not always highly correlated. It is thus uncertain how members of the immigrant population evaluate their current economic well-being. Based on reference group theory, it could be expected that immigrants from poorer parts of the world tend to be rather complacent with income conditions that are classified as poor in reference to national standards in the host countries. If this were the case, it would raise difficult issues for social evaluation. However, our results indicate that immigrants from poorer countries report more subjective poverty than natives as well as emigrants from richer countries and the difference is only partially explained by current income. In other words, contrary to initial expectations immigrants are less satisfied with their current income than the general population, even when differences in objective income conditions are controlled for. Key words: subjective poverty, financial satisfaction, immigrants, ethnic minorities 1