User:Rloftis5672

Rloftis5672 is a student at Rice University

About Me
Thank you for checking out my user page. I am an undergraduate student at Rice University studying Sociology with a minor in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities. I am looking forward to contributing to articles on Wikipedia through the |Wikipedia Education Program and course assignments in my Education Program:Rice University/Human Development in Global and Local Communities (Spring 2015) class.

Major Contributions
I created and plan to continue expanding the page Immigration to Denmark. I plan to expand existing sections on Population, Religion, Economic Effects, and Politics to offer a more comprehensive look at current policies, their effectiveness, and ongoing debates that surround each topic.

The population section of the page has three subheadings; demographics, religion, and employment. It is currently missing a topic overview, which I would like to add to better summarize what can be found in this section. The Religion section of the page is currently empty, save for two links to Religion in Denmark and Islam in Denmark. I plan to expand this section to include a demographic break down of the religions most represented within the immigrant and refugee populations of Denmark as well as political and social commentary regarding building mosques in Denmark and religion’s believed role in shaping the ability of immigrants to integrate into Danish society.

Currently the page’s section on Economic Effects includes only a brief overview of economic effects of immigration by describing employment gaps between immigrants and native born Danes. Extensive research about the way the cost of providing social services for immigrant populations in welfare states and Denmark in particular exists in addition to summaries and debates surrounding different policy strategies that were created in order to mitigate these costs. I would like this section to better elaborate on the source of these costs such as a lack of education and refined skills within immigrant and refugee populations, barring their entrance into the labor force as well as the benefits immigrants may receive from the welfare state prior to paying taxes to the state, and the political debates that have arisen as a response.

The Politics section currently includes two subheadings; Immigration as a political issue and Danish People’s Party and immigration. The first outlines the history of immigration as an increasingly central topic in political debate. The second describes how a particular party in Danish politics has utilized debates on immigration as a method to gain voter support by limiting immigration to Denmark and the benefits that immigrants in Denmark may receive. I would like to add an additional section on International Reactions to Denmark’s immigration policies. MIPEX, or the Migrant Integration Policy Index, is an international body that rates the immigration and refugee policies of nations for political and social inclusion. I would like to add in a summary of their rating of Denmark’s immigration policy over time and investigate additional international bodies or organizations that measure and publish opinions on immigration policy. I would also like to expand Immigration as a Political Issue to also include recent key issues that the growing political debate has focused on, such as the economic welfare benefits immigrants should be eligible for  concern about the social rights of women within immigrant communities, and approaches to the education of immigrants and their descendants.

I look forward to continuing my contribution to Wikipedia!