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Annual ORR Reports to Congress - 2001

Reasons for Not Looking for Work

The survey also asked refugees age 16 and over who were not employed why they were not looking for employment. Attending school accounted for the largest proportion (40 percent) with an associated median age of 18. Age accounted for another 11 percent with an associated median age of 72. Poor health or handicap accounted for the third largest proportion (8%) with an associated median age of 57. Child care or other family responsibilities accounted for another eight percent with an associated median age of 35. Furthermore, for those citing child care or other family responsibilities, 76 percent were under the age of 40 and 97 percent were female. Limited

English accounted for another four percent with an associated median age of 41. However, a com-bination of limited English and other answers (most often associated with poor health and age) accounted for an additional 26 percent. Finally, a mixture of still other answers accounted for the balance.

Because refugees coming from different regions have a different mix of background characteristics, reasons for not working vary as well by country of origin. For example nearly a third of the refugees in the 2001 survey who were from the former Soviet Union and did not work in the year prior to the survey were age 65 years and older, generally considered retirement age in the U.S.

 

Table 2- Employment Status of Refugees by Survey Year and Sex

(Based on Refugees Age 16 and Older)
		Employment Rate (EPR)				Labor Force Participation Rate				Unemployment Rate
Year Survey Administered		All	Male	Female		All	Male	Female		All	Male	Female
2001 Survey		62.0	67.7	56.3		66.6	72.7	60.5		6.9	6.9	7.0
U.S. Rates		63.8	70.8	57.3		66.9	74.4	60.1		4.8	4.8	4.7
2000 Survey		60.8	72.6	62.7		70.1	74.9	65.1		3.3	3.0	3.7
U.S. Rates		64.5	71.8	57.7		67.2	74.7	60.2		4.0	3.9	4.1
1999 Survey		66.8	72.3	61.1		68.9	74.4	63.3		3.1	2.8	3.5
U.S. Rates		64.3	71.6	57.4		67.1	74.7	60.0		4.2	4.1	4.3
1998 Survey		56.0	62.7	49.4		59.1	65.9	52.3		5.2	4.9	5.6
U.S. Rates		64.1	71.6	57.1		67.1	74.9	59.8		4.5	4.4	4.6
1997 Survey		53.9	62.9	45.1		58.3	67.1	49.5		7.5	6.3	9.0
U.S. Rates		63.8	71.3	56.8		67.1	75	59.8		4.9	4.9	5
1996 Survey		51.1	58.8	43.3		57.5	65.7	49.2		11.2	10.6	12.0
U.S. Rates		63.2	70.9	56.0		66.8	74.9	59.3		5.4	5.4	5.4
1995 Survey		42.3	49.5	35.1		49.8	57.4	42.1		15.1	14.0	16.6
U.S. Rates		62.9	70.8	55.6		66.6	75	58.9		5.6	5.6	5.6
1994 Survey		35.5	41.2	29.8		43.6	50.7	36.5		18.8	18.9	18.6
U.S. Rates		62.5	70.4	55.3		66.6	75.1	58.8		6.1	6.2	6
1993 Survey		32.5	37.3	27.7		35.4	41.2	29.7		8.4	9.5	6.9
U.S. Rates		61.7	70.0	54.1		66.3	75.4	57.9		6.9	7.2	6.6

Note: As of October 2001, October 2000, October 1999, October 1998, and October 1997. Not seasonally adjusted. Data refer to refugees 16 and over in the five-year sample population consisting of Amerasians, Entrants, and Refugees of all nationalities who were interviewed as a part of the 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997 surveys. U.S. rates are for 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997.

TABLE 3 - Employment Status of Selected Refugee Groups by Sex: 2001 Refugee Survey

Employment Measure	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
Employment Rate (EPR)	50.4%	75.5%	68.9%	60.1%	57.9%	46.8%	71.8%	62.0%
-Males	60.9	77.1	77.3	65.8	69.0	53.3	73.6	67.7
-Females	39.4	73.8	60.2	53.6	48.1	40.8	69.8	56.3
Worked at any point since arrival	54.9	79.0	76.2	63.5	59.2	53.6	72.6	66.8
-Males	66.4	80.0	81.5	69.4	69.0	60.7	75.2	72.2
-Females	42.7	77.9	70.8	56.6	50.6	47.0	69.8	61.4
Labor Force  Participation Rate	54.9	77.6	74.3	70.8	57.9	53.4	72.9	66.6
-Males	65.1	79.3	82.5	78.0	69.0	61.0	75.2	72.7
-Females	44.1	75.9	66.0	62.5	48.1	46.3	70.3	60.5
Unemployment Rate	8.2	2.7	7.4	15.1	0.0	12.4	1.5	6.9
-Males	6.5	2.8	6.3	15.6	0.0	12.7	2.1	6.9
Females	10.8	2.7	8.8	14.3	0.0	12.0	0.7	6.9

Note: As of October 2001. Not seasonally adjusted. 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 1996-2001.

Work Experience in the Previous Year

A gauge of economic adjustment that shows a longer time frame than employment status (which only relates to employment during the week prior to the survey) is work experience, which measures not only the number of weeks worked in the past year, but the usual number of hours worked.

As with employment status, the proportion of refugees with some work experience in the past year tends to increase with length of time in the U.S. In the 2001 survey, only about 36 percent of refugees who arrived in 2001 had worked at all compared with over 70 percent of those who arrived in 1997 and 1998, virtually the same proportion as that for the U.S. population as a whole. The work rate for the 1997 and 1998 arrivals was somewhat higher than the proportion of 1996 arrivals who worked by the time of the 2001 survey. It should be remembered that refugee arrivals are a different mix of cultures and skill levels in each year and that this can affect levels of work experience. But that is not to say that the work level of 1996 arrivals has remained constant even if it has not reached that of more recent refugee groups. In surveys from 1996 to 2001, the proportion of 1996 arrivals who worked in the year prior to each survey has increased from 35 percent in the 1996 survey to 57 percent in the 1998 survey to the present level of 65 percent.

Another way of measuring the employment progress of refugees is to explore the weeks worked of refugees who arrived in the same year but in successive surveys. For example the average number of weeks worked by 1997 refugee arrivals in the 1997 survey was 24.9 weeks, 41.1 weeks in the 1998 survey, 45.6 weeks in the 1999 survey, 48.0 weeks in the 2000 survey and 48.6 weeks in the 2001 survey.

Work Experience of Adult Refugees in the 2001 Survey
By Year of Arrival

	Number	Percent Distribution
Total refugees 16 years and older	3911	100.0
Worked	2476	63.3
50-52 weeks	1845	47.2
Full-time	1605	41.0
Average weeks worked	45.5
2001 arrivals	211	100.0
Worked	75	35.5
50-52 weeks	0	0
Full-time	0	0
Average weeks worked	21.5
2000 arrivals	735	100.0
Worked	383	52.1
50-52 weeks	184	25.0
Full-time	153	20.8
Average weeks worked	38.5
1999 arrivals	985	100.0
Worked	648	65.8
50-52 weeks	509	51.7
Full-time	434	44.1
Average weeks worked	46.7
1998 arrivals	781	100.0
Worked	554	70.9
50-52 weeks	467	59.8
Full-time	420	53.8
Average weeks worked	47.9
1997 arrivals	678	100.0
Worked	477	70.4
50-52 weeks	402	59.3
Full-time	352	51.9
Average weeks worked	48.6
1996 arrivals	521	100.0
Worked	340	65.3
50-52 weeks	285	54.7
Full-time	248	47.6
Average weeks worked	48.5

Not only do the average number of weeks worked increase with time in the U.S., the proportion of refugees who are able to find full-time employment increases. Full-time employment is usually measured as 35 hours or more work per week. And over half of adult refugees in the 2001 survey who arrived prior to 2000 were working year-round (that is 50 to 52 weeks) and full-time (35 hours or more per week). For the U.S. population as a whole, about 47 percent of adults worked year-round and full-time in 2001.

Disability limiting or preventing work can affect both the young and old. Twenty-three percent of refugees 16 years and over who did not work in the year prior to the 2001 survey said they had a physical or mental condition which had lasted at least six months and limited the kind or amount of work they could perform. Most of these persons also indicated their disability prevented them from working at all. About half of refugees 65 years old and over who did not work based on the 2001 survey indicated they had a disability. </