Refugee Economic Adaptation

ABSTRACT

A theoretical model of predictors of refugee economic adaptation was tested using data from a telephone survey of a random sample of Hmong, Somali, and Russian refugees resettled in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The study examined the relative influence of demographic characteristics, flight-related characteristics, host-related characteristics, residency characteristics, acculturation characteristics, and adaptation stresses upon refugees' employment status and estimated earnings. Although previous studies have extensively examined demographic and residency characteristics, the relative influence of the other factors has not been comprehensively investigated. Multivariate analyses indicated that across the different refugee groups, the model explained 34–44% of the variance in employment status and 12–26% of the variance in estimated earnings. Consistent with previous findings, demographic characteristics, in particular, education, gender, and household composition, had the largest effects on the indicators of economic adaptation. The remaining factors had relatively small effects. The implications for refugee resettlement theory, policy, practice, and future research are discussed in light of these and previous findings.

Key Words:

• Refugees
• resettlement
• economic adaptation
• Hmong
• Somali
• Russian