Association between Gender Inequality in Country of Origin and the Economic Participation of Refugee Women Resettled in the United States

Background and Purpose: Despite a growing number of refugee women resettled in the U.S., little attention has been paid to the economic participation and resettlement experiences of this vulnerable population. While qualitative studies have explored refugee women’s experiences there has been no quantitative study of economic outcomes using data from nationally-representative samples. Using a transnational feminist perspective, this study centers around refugee women as a growing and critical population seeking stability and economic wellbeing. Additionally, possible associations between the gender-based inequality in refugee women’s countries of origin and employment and economic participation among women settled in the U.S. are explored.

Methods: We conduct a secondary data analysis of foreign-born women ages of 18-65 years resettled in the U.S. from likely refugee-sending countries using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010-2015 American Communities Survey (ACS) PUMS data. Refugee-sending countries are identified using the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Annual Immigration Statistics Yearbook and gender-based inequality in countries of origins is measured with the Gender Inequality Index created by the United Nations. Using a sample of working-age foreign-born women from likely refugee-sending countries (N= 10,892), we run logit and linear regressions. Based on the literature around women and work, we control for household characteristics (income, number of people in the household, the number of household members with employment, number of children, marital status), human capital (disability status, educational attainment, English proficiency, work experience), immigration-related variables (the number of years in the United States, age at entry into the US) and other relevant demographic characteristics (age, race, and ethnicity).

Results: Weighted descriptive analyses showed that refugee women resettled in the U.S. experience unemployment and household income in association with their educational attainment, marital status, and the number of own children in the house. The sending countries’ gender inequality and gender development scores were also a significant predictor of employment status in this sample. The household income of working age refugee women is significantly associated with the following predictors in linear regression: Number of own children in the household (inverse relationship) p= 0.023; school level (positive relationship), age (positive), being married (positive), and language isolation (inverse), all to the p<.000 level. N= 5,394. The employment status of working age refugee women is significantly associated with the following predictors in a logistic regression model:  Gender Inequality Index ranking of country of origin (p = .04); English proficiency (p<.000); and educational attainment (p<.000).

Conclusion and Implication: The findings suggest that the gendered experiences of refugee women in the U.S. labor market may be related to their training and educational attainment, household characteristics, gender inequality in their countries of origin, and marital status. These findings call for the development of employment assistance and job training policies and programs in consideration of the culture of refugee women’s countries of origin, while investing more into human capital enhancement of these women.