Factors Affecting Employment Status

Achieving economic self‑sufficiency is based on the employment prospects of adult refugees, which hinges on a mixture of refugee skills, family size and composition (e.g., number of dependents to support), job opportunities, and the resources available in the communities in which refugees resettle. The occupational and educational skills that refugees bring with them to the U.S. also influence their prospects for self‑sufficiency.

The average number of years of education for all arrivals was approximately eleven (Table 4). The level of education prior to arrival has risen sharply over the past decade, most probably as a result of a significant increase in the proportion of refugees from Eastern Europe (particularly, the republics of the former Yugoslavia) and the republics of the former Soviet Union. The 2000 survey revealed a pronounced disparity between the educational backgrounds among the seven refugee groups formed from the survey respondents. The average years of education were highest for the former Soviet Union (12 years) and lowest for Other Southeast Asia (four years). By combining high school, technical school, and university degrees, the former Soviet Union (over 73 percent) ranks highest for education while Other Southeast Asia (over eleven percent) ranks the lowest.

Refugees from Other Southeast Asia (57 percent) and Africa (23 percent) recorded the largest proportion for no formal education before arriving in the U.S.; they also rank high for attending high school during the past 12 months. Africa and Other Southeast Asia rank highest for working towards an associate degree and a bachelor's degree, followed by Middle East and Vietnam. Some degree of caution is necessary when interpreting education statistics, however, since the requirements for educational advancements, diplomas, and degrees vary significantly among nations.

At the time of arrival, 63 percent of adult refugees claimed to speak no English (Table 4). By the time of the interview, only 8 percent spoke no English. The survey revealed considerable variation in English language proficiency. At the time of arrival, 73 percent of refugees from Other Southeast Asia spoke no English, followed by the former Soviet Union (73 percent), Latin America (68 percent), Eastern Europe (64 percent), Vietnam (60 percent), the Middle East (46 percent), and Africa (36 percent). By the time of the interview, 14 percent of refugees from Latin America still spoke no English, followed by the former Soviet Union (10 percent) and Vietnam (7 percent). All other refugee groups had dropped below 7 percent. At the time of the interview, refugees from Latin America ranked lowest for speaking English well or fluently (51 percent), followed by the former Soviet Union and Other Southeast Asia (53 and 72 percent, respectively.)

The relationship between English language proficiency and economic self-sufficiency can be gauged by comparing the ability to speak English with the associated EPR (Table 5). Sixty-eight

Note:  Data refer to refugees 16 and over in the five-year sample population consisting of Amerasians, Entrants, and Refugees of all nationalities who arrived in the years 1995-2000. These figures refer to self-reported characteristics of refugees. Professional degree refers to a law degree or medical degree.