Leaving No One Behind: Statelessness and the Sustainable Development Goals Individuals, communities and States: the economic and social benefits of granting citizenship In 2009, a comparative qualitative study on the benefits of granting citizenship to stateless persons noted “very real and important material and non-material benefits at both the community and individual levels”, including political representation, access to the formal labour market, property ownership and free movement.57 There is little quantitative research on the specific economic impacts of grant of nationality. One exception, however, is the Shona study referred to in focus box (E), which clearly demonstrated the positive impact on financial inclusion of individuals and the economic development of the larger community. In addition, we can draw inferences from literature concerning the naturalization of non-citizens who are not stateless. In general, the research indicates that acquisition of citizenship has a positive impact on the employment and earnings of immigrants, especially for women and the poorest groups.58 There are also a number of studies concerning the acquisition of citizenship that indicate the benefits of naturalization not only for immigrants to a country, but also for the State whose citizenship is acquired. Research of this type has mainly been conducted in the relatively richer countries of North America and Europe. In the United States for example, it has been found that naturalization has positive effects on individual incomes (even controlling for other important factors) and also for the US economy.59 A study of OECD countries also suggested that naturalization tends to improve labour market outcomes for the individuals concerned and for their children, in particular for the most disadvantaged immigrants and those from lowerincome countries. Therefore, “[a]t least on the basis of economic considerations, OECD countries would thus seem to achieve considerable gains from facilitating access to the host-country nationality”, whether through naturalization or through rights for children born on the territory.60 Similarly, a systematic comparison across European countries showed gains for those naturalizing, especially for immigrant women, and it was argued that for the State itself there would be “sizable returns to granting birthright citizenship for immigrant children and youth”.61 In the context of immigrant naturalization it is noted that “the State and the public also have democratic, social and economic interests in facilitating the acquisition of citizenship by the settled foreign population, especially by the new generation born in the country.” It is only with the acquisition of citizenship that political parties and representative institutions will fully take into account their interests and opinions, while naturalization encourages the public to recognize immigrants as their equals. At the same time, “long-term exclusion of foreigners from national citizenship reinforces their socioeconomic exclusion. It discourages the development of a new shared sense of belonging.”62 These studies focus on the acquisition of nationality by immigrants through the normal naturalization processes, which almost always require that the people concerned have a regular migration status. Thus, in general, when a person naturalizes, they usually have an existing recognized nationality, on the basis of which the legal residence status has been granted that then enables naturalization. In some cases, it is even a formal requirement of the naturalization procedure that a person produce proof of existing nationality. There are some exceptions to these requirements. Recognized refugees, for example, are often exempted from providing proof of nationality, since to do so would require approaching the consular authorities of the country from which they have fled. 57. Brad Blitz and Maureen Lynch, eds., Statelessness and the Benefits of Citizenship: A Comparative Study (Geneva: Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, 2009). 58. Sara Wallace Goodman, “Citizenship studies: policy causes and consequences”, Annual Review of Political Science 26, no. 1 (2023), https://doi. org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051921-102729. 59. Manuel Pastor and Justin Scoggins, “Citizen gain: the economic benefits of naturalization for immigrants and the economy” (Los Angeles: Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII), University of Southern California, 2012), https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/publications/citizen-gain/. 60. OECD, “Naturalisation: a passport for the better integration of immigrants?” (OECD Publishing, 2011), https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264099104-en. 61. Christina Gathmann and Julio Garbers, “Citizenship and integration”, IZA DP No. 15786 (Bonn: IZA Institute of Labor Economics, 2022), 1, https://docs. iza.org/dp15786.pdf. 62. Rainer Bauböck et al., “Access to citizenship and its impact on immigrant integration: European summary and standards”, EUDO Citizenship Observatory; ACIT Comparative Report (Fiesole: European University Institute, 2013), https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/29828. 28