For newly resettled refugees in the United States, getting a job doesn’t necessarily mean escaping poverty, says a migration policy expert at Washington University in St. Louis.
In 2023, 89% of working-age refugees who had been resettled in the United States within the previous five years were employed — a higher employment rate than that of U.S.-born adults or immigrants overall, said Mitra Naseh, an assistant professor at the Brown School.
Yet refugees continue to experience poverty at disproportionately high rates during their first years in the country.
In an article for the nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute, Naseh and her colleagues Jihye Lee and Saria Bechara, both doctoral students at the Brown School, examine why refugees with jobs face such high rates of poverty — and how policymakers could better support both refugees and the communities they now call home.
“This poverty is often the result of forced and unplanned displacement, as well as structural barriers facing newly arrived refugees post-resettlement, rather than innate attributes in the individuals,” Naseh wrote.
Why doesn’t employment bring economic stability?
The U.S. resettlement system emphasizes rapid self-sufficiency. Refugees often are expected to find work quickly, sometimes within 90 days of arrival.
That can mean accepting jobs with few qualifications, and consequently low wages, limited benefits and few opportunities for advancement, before refugees can have their education, professional credentials and previous work experience evaluated, Naseh wrote.
In a study of 336 recently resettled Afghan refugee and humanitarian parolee households in St. Louis and in Portland, Ore., 73% of working heads of household were employed in occupations with limited career mobility at best.
“While employment may provide immediate income, it may not always offer a pathway out of poverty,” Naseh wrote.
U.S. organizations and employers often may not accept foreign degrees and professional credentials, making it difficult for refugees to continue careers in their fields. Limited English proficiency can further restrict access to higher-quality jobs, while a lack of transportation or childcare can add to the difficulties.
What’s a better approach?
Naseh argues that refugee economic integration should be measured by more than someone’s job status.
A more comprehensive approach would consider whether refugees have access to stable incomes, career advancement, recognized credentials, English-language education, transportation and affordable childcare. This approach also would recognize the skills and experience that refugees offer, rather than focusing on how quickly they find work.
“Measuring success not only by whether refugees are working but by whether they have access to the resources, opportunities and conditions needed to move out of poverty and build stable lives would lead to a more holistic picture,” Naseh wrote.
The poverty that refugees experience during their first years in the United States can shape their economic trajectories for years to come. Early resettlement support that focuses on longer-term economic outcomes could help refugees avoid persistent cycles of poverty while also strengthening the economies of host communities, she said. Punitive or restrictive policies that limit access to public benefits for refugees during the early years of resettlement may instead prolong the cycles of poverty that refugees are trying to escape.
At the individual level, refugees can improve their long-term economic outcomes by investing in human capital, including strengthening English proficiency, building financial knowledge and pursuing education or credentialing opportunities, Naseh said. However, these investments are only possible when the systems and communities around them make such opportunities accessible and attainable, she said.
Does refugee poverty improve over time?
The numbers are striking, Naseh said.
Between 2016 and 2018, between two-thirds and three-quarters of refugees who had resettled in the United States within the previous five years had household incomes below the federal poverty level, which is five to six times the rate for the U.S. population overall. The rate declined to 41% in 2019, but remained nearly four times the national rate.
Naseh and her colleagues also examined poverty using a broader measure that considers categories including standard of living, education, health, economic security and housing. By that measure, 65% of recently resettled refugees experienced multidimensional poverty in 2020. The rate remained just under 60% in 2022.
Evidence suggests that refugees’ economic circumstances improve substantially the longer they live in the U.S., Naseh said. A federal study covering refugees who arrived between 2005 and 2019 found that those who had lived here for a decade had incomes roughly comparable to those of the overall U.S. population.
That trajectory suggests the early years after resettlement are particularly important and that policies and support should be broader.
“Employment alone is not economic integration,” Naseh wrote.
