Southeast Asian Refugee Self-Sufficiency Study. Final Report

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 267 133 UD 024 752 AUTHOR Caplan, Nathan; And Others TITLE Southeast Asian Refugee Self-SufficiencyStudy. Final Report. INSTITUTION Michiga Univ., Ann Arbor. Inst.for Social Research. SPONS AGENCY Office of Refugee Resettlement (DHHS),Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Jan 85 CONTRACT HHS-100-81-0064 NOTE 287p. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC12 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Asian Americans; Economic Opportunities;*Economic Status; Employment Services; *English (Second Language); *Family Characteristics;*Family Financial Resources; Immigrants; Job Training; Laotians; Poverty; *Refugees; Vietnamese People;*Welfare Services IDENTIFIERS Southeast Asians ABSTRACT This study on the economic self-sufficiencyof the Southeast Asian refugee householdwas conducted in order to gather information on the economicstatus of these refugees, the factors that contribute to self-sufficiency, andrefugees' needs for services. A survey of 1,384 householdsof Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, and Lao refugees who arrivedin the United States after October 1978 was conducted. Interviewswere held in the Fall of 1982 in five sites: Boston, Chicago,Houston, Seattle, and Orange County, California. It was found thatSoutheast Asian refugees have made steady progress in climbingout of dependency on transfer income and increasing their standard of livingin relation to the official poverty level and that there isevery intication that they will continue to progress ina positive direction. Virtually all the refugees studied relied on cash assistanceat the beginning of their stay; dependency is apparently not bychoice. Factors thatwere found to be important in the families' levelsof self-sufficiencywere household size and composition, therefugee community as asource of support, and participation in and effectivenessof English language programs and employment service programs. Thestudy report contains extensive and detailed informationon the design, implementation, and results of the study anduses many tables and charts to illustrateor present the information. (CG) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS * * are the best that can be made from the original document. * *************************w********************************************* January 1985 SOUTHEAST ASIAN REFUGEE SELF-SUFFICIENCY STUDY Executive Summary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Social Security Administration Office of Refugee Resettlement SOUTHEAST ASIAN REFUGEE SELF-SUFFICIENCY STUDY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY January 1985 Prepared for: Office of Refugee Resettlement U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 330 C Street S W. Switzer Building, Room 1319 Washington, D.C. 20201 Toyo Biddle, Government Project Officer Contract #HHS-100-81-0064 Submitted by: Nathan Caplan John K. Whitmore Quang L. Bui The Institut- For Social Research The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 This report was prepared under Contract No. HHS-100-81-0064 for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Department of Health and Human Services. The contents do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and no official endorsement by the Office of Refugee Resettlement should be inferred. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With the fall of Saigon in April1975, the United States embarked on a program of resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees which is now approaching a total of three-quarters of a million. Beginning in September 1978, a second major influx of refugees, including those Vietnamese andChinese treated in the press as the "Boat People," began arriving in the United States. These more recent arrivals were moderately different inbackgroundcharacteristics by comparison with their earlier cohorts. While the earlier arrivals were largely Vietnamese who were educated, familiar with western culture, andpos- sessed English language skills, those arriving in the Fall of 1978 and after were more varied in ethnicity and their skills. In addition to Vietnamese, this second wave of refugees included Chinese from Vietnam, Hmong and Mien from Laos, Khmer, Lao, and others. On average they were somewhat less educated and more limited in job skills, education, and English proficiency. In order to facilitate the resettlement of refugees, the Refugee Act of 1980 was enacted, establishing a permanentmechanism for the admission of refugees to the United States and providing for a comprehensive and uniform program of assistance and services. In addition, the Act established the Of- fice of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within HHS to administer the domestic resettlement program. Under the Refugee Resettlement program, refugees are eligible to receive cash assistance, medical assistance, and supportive services intended to ease their initial adjustment to the United States and to help them become economically self-sufficient. Included under support services are employment services, English language training, job training, orien- tation and other social services. Currently, the information availablc on the economic status of refugees who have been served under the Refugee Act is limited. The largest such group 2 comprises the Southeast Asian refugees arriving since the Fall of 1979, with their broad variety of cultural and educational background. Furthermore, little systematic analysis has been conducted on the process of becoming self- sufficient and theimpact of refugee program services on thi- process. Final- ly, no analytical models have been developed which explain the relationship between refugee background, need for particular kinds and levels of service, and the achievement of economic self-sufficiency. The purpose of the research to be reviewed here was to address these issues. In late summer, 1982, the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, fielded a survey among Southeast Asian refugees who had arrived in the United States from October 1978. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the degree of economic self-sufficiency achieved by these refugees at the time and the factors associated with it. Three groups of refugees (Vietnamese, Chinese from Vietnam, and lowland Lao) were interviewed in five sites across the country. Boston Ckicagc Seattle Houston Orange County, California. The sites were chosen to represent the diversity of refugee communities and socioeconomic situations existing in the United States. The interviewing took place in the depth of the American recession and the economies of all the sites were suffering to one degree or another. The survey resulted in 1384 household interviews conducted in the resoondents' native languages which yield data on 4160 adults (aged 16 and 3 over) and 2615 children. The adult population tended to be male 'Si percent) and young, with an average age among adults of 31. The household (that is, all the individuals living thereir.) was focused upon as the unit of analysis. Our definition of economic self-sufficiency looked at two different aspects: whether the household had anyone within it receiving public cash assistance, and how the totalincome of the household (including both assistance and earned) compared to the official poverty level (ca. $800 per month for a family of four). As it turned out, these aspects tended to be interrelated in regard to the economic self-sufficiency of the refugee household unit. The sampling was drawn from a combination of ad- ministrative lists and area probability sampling procedures. 4 I. Labor Force Participation At the time of the survey, 44 percent (1,823) of the total adultpopula- tion were in the job market. The unemployment rate among these was 42 percent (773) and 58 percent (1,050) had found jobs. This figure does not include the 56 percent (2337) of the total adult population not participating in the labor force: those simply not looking for work(12 perzent), students(24 percent), housewives, the disabled, and the retired (20 percent). While tne unemployment rate is high,it must be recognized that itis an aggregate figure which includes all refugees seeking work from the moment they enter the United States. In order to gain a better understanding of the high unemployment rate, it is necessary to look at both time in the United States and site as variables affecting the rates. Figure 1 shows the sharp drop in the unemployment rate from the first months of resettlement (almost 90 percent)to over three years in the United States (about a third). Those refugees who had been in the United States between two and three years had an unemployment rate'under 40 percent. Among the five sites, two had high unemployment rates for the refugees (Seattle 57 percent, Chicago 50 percent) and two had relatively moderate rates (Boston 39 percent, Orange County 36 percent), with only Houston's rate being relatively low (25 percent). Among the three ethnic groups, the unemployment rates were rather close: Lao 40 percent, Vietnamese 43 percent, and Chinese 45 percent. Of those who were working, about two-thirds held low status jobs in the peripheral as opposed to the core sector of the economy. The occupations in the United States were consistently lower in status than the occupations neld in Southeast Asia, and there appears to have been little direct transfer of the skills employed in Southeast Asia to the jobs obtained in the United States so far. 5 The economic future of the refugee households surveyed would not appear to lie in the movement of one individual up the ladder of success. In the

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