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Annual ORR Reports to Congress - 2002

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 (36 percent) with an associated median age of 18. Limited English accounted for another 33 percent with an associated median age of 72. Poor Health or Handicap accounted for the third largest proportion (24 percent) with an associated median age of 57. Age and Child Care or Other Family Responsibilities accounted for the next largest groupings 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. Finally, a combination of Couldn't Find Job and Other answers (most often associated with poor health and age) accounted for an additional eight percent.

Table II-4 - Employment Status of Selected Refugee Groups by Sex : 2002 Refugee Survey

Employment Measure	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
Employment Rate (EPR)	60.7	67.9	67.7	53.1	64.0	44.8	77.2	60.8
-Males	66.1	67.3	71.7	67.6	66.0	53.9	75.9	65.6
-Females	52.3	68.8	61.5	39.6	62.5	36.4	78.6	55.2
Worked at any point since arrival	68.7	83.8	81.7	65.2	64.0	53.3	79.0	71.8
-Males	72.1	86.1	82.1	80.4	66.0	60.9	78.2	76.2
-Females	63.7	81.9	80.3	51.1	62.5	46.3	80.0	66.8
Labor Force Participation Rate	65.5	77.1	75.2	60.2	64.0	50.5	77.2	67.1
-Males	69.1	79.3	77.6	75.6	66.0	60.0	75.9	72.3
-Females	60.0	75.2	71.2	45.9	62.5	41.8	78.6	61.3
Unemployment Rate	4.8	9.2	7.5	7.1	0.0	5.8	0.0	6.4
-Males	3.0	12.0	5.9	8.0	0.0	6.2	0.0	6.8
-Females	7.8	6.3	9.7	6.4	0.0	5.4	0.0	6.1

Figure 2. Reason not looking for Work for Refugees 16 years and over: 2002 Survey.

(Chart note: Limited to refugees who did not work in previous year and are not looking for work at the time of the survey.)

Due to the diversity within the sampled populations, these findings vary by country of origin. For example nearly a quarter (24 percent) of the refugees in the 2002 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. (2002 data).

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 in a week.

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. Table II-5 shows that only about 44 percent of refugees who arrived in 2002 had worked compared with over 67 percent of those who arrived in the previous year, virtually the same proportion as that for the U.S. population as a whole.

Elapsed Time to First Job

How soon do refugees find work after coming to the U.S.? The 2002 survey (see Figure 4) indicates that of those who have worked at all since coming to the U.S. (about 42 percent of refugees 16 years old and over in that survey), about 8 percent found work within one month of arrival, an additional 11 percent after two to three months, 14 percent within 4 to 6 months, while another 9 percent took 7 to 12 months and 13 percent took more than a year. Thus, more than half found employment within 6 months of arrival, and more than a third of refugees reported finding first employment within 3 months of arrival in the most recent survey. The latter figure was about the same in the 1993 survey, and has fluctuated only between 26 and 35 percent during the past decade.

The fraction taking more than a year to find first employment has, however, declined in recent years, from between 29 and 30 percent in surveys prior to 1998 to the present level of 19 percent. Economic conditions within the U.S. appear to have slowed down the ability of incoming refugees to find employment quickly, but only slightly. About 35 percent of refugees in the 1999 survey found employment within 3 months compared with the most recent figure of 33 percent, and only 17 percent took more than a year to find employment, compared with the current 19 percent.

Factors Affecting Employment

Achieving economic self-sufficiency is based on the employment prospects of adult refugees, which hinges on a mixture of refugee skills, family size and composition (e.g., number of dependents to support), job opportunities, and the resources available in the communities in which refugees resettle. The occupational and educational skills that refugees bring with them to the United States also influence their prospects for self-sufficiency, as can cultural factors.

The average number of years of education for all arrivals was approximately eleven (refer to Table II-6). The level of education prior to arrival has risen sharply over the past decade, most probably as a result of a significant increase in the proportion of refugees from Eastern Europe (particularly, the former Yugoslavia) and the former Soviet Union. In the 1993 survey for example, 85 percent of refugees from Southeast Asia (other than Vietnam) had not received a primary or secondary school certificate.

Table II-5 - Work Experience of Adult Refugees in the 2002 Survey By Year of Arrival Number Percent

The 2002 survey revealed little disparity between the educational backgrounds among the seven refugee groups formed from the survey respondents. The average years of education were consistent among ethnic groups ranging from 11.0 for the Eastern European population to 11.5 for the Southeast Asian population to the exclusion of the African and the Middle Eastern populations, which had an average years-of-education percentage of 8.9 and 9.7, respectively. By combining high school, technical school, university and medical degrees, the former Soviet Union (74 percent) ranks highest for education while Other Southeast Asia (less than 29 percent) ranks the lowest. As indicated earlier, refugees from the former Soviet Union have a relatively low labor force participation rate despite their relatively high education.

Refugees from Latin America (47 percent) and Africa (37 percent) showed the largest proportion with no formal education before arriving in the U.S. However, refugees from Latin America rank high for attending high school for a degree during the past 12 months. Africa shows the highest proportion for attempting to earn an associate degree followed by Middle East, and Other Southeast Asia shows the highest proportion for attempting to earn a bachelor's degree followed closely by Eastern Europe and Africa. It should be noted that even though the survey asks about years of schooling and the highest degree or certificate obtained prior to coming to the U.S., the correspondence between years of schooling and degrees or certifications among different countries is not necessarily the same. Consequently, some degree of caution is necessary when interpreting education statistics.

Fifty-one percent of refugees in the 2002 survey reported speaking no English when they arrived in the U.S. (refer to Table II-6). But this fraction was reduced considerably by the time of the survey interview, when only 11 percent reported speaking no English. At the time of arrival, 60 percent of refugees from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe spoke no English followed by Latin America (57 percent), Vietnam (47 percent), Middle East (35 percent), Africa (24 percent) and Other Southeast Asia (20 percent). By the time of the interview, 29 percent of refugees from Latin America still spoke no English followed by the former Soviet Union (11 percent), Middle East (10 percent), and Other Southeast Asia (6.4 percent). All other refugee groups had dropped below 6 percent. By the time of the interview, refugees from Latin America had the smallest percentage who reported speaking English well or fluently (27 percent) followed by the former Soviet Union (45 percent).

Full-time employment is usually measured as 35 hours of work or more per week. In 2002, 50 percent of respondents had worked full time in the previous week, compared with 41 percent the year before. In addition, 43.3 percent had worked at least 50 weeks in the past year, compared with 47.2 the previous year. Altogether refugees had worked, on an average 43.4 weeks in the previous year, down a bit from 45.5 weeks in last year's survey.

During the past 12 months, 17 percent of all refugees attended English Language Training (ELT) outside of high school. Refugees from the Middle East (41 percent) and Africa (35 percent) followed by the Former Soviet Union (29 percent) and Latin American (24 percent) have attended ELT outside of high school the most, whereas Vietnam (4 percent) followed by Other Southeast Asia (14 percent) and Eastern Europe (17 percent) have attended ELT the least (refer to Table II-8).

Figure 4: Elapsed Time to First Job for Refugees who have ever worked by Survey Year.

For the same period, the proportion of refugees who have attended job-training classes lags far behind ELT. Overall, only four percent of all survey respondents had attended job training (refer to Table II-8). Refugees from Africa and Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union had attended the greatest amount versus refugees from Other Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and the Middle East who had attended the least. Across all refugee groups that attended job training, 57 percent indicated they spoke English well or fluently at the time of the survey, while 26 percent indicated that they did not speak English well and 11 percent indicated that they did not speak English at all.

Earnings and Utilization of Public Assistance

The earnings of employed refugees generally rise with length of residence in the U.S. (refer to Table II-9). For 2002 arrivals, the average hourly wage was $8.85.[1] For 1997 arrivals, the average hourly wage was $10.12 per hour (a difference of 13 percent) for those in the 2002 survey. The overall hourly wage of employed refugees in the five-year population was $9.37 (up from $8.90, $8.83, $8.29, $7.97, and $7.38 reported in the 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997 surveys, respectively, not adjusting for inflation).

Another way of looking at these earnings data is to follow refugees who arrived in the same year over time. For example, the average wage for 1997 arrivals was $6.82 in 1997, $7.45 in 1998, $8.14 in 1999, $10.48 in 2000, and $11.52 in 2001 (these figures are not adjusted for inflation which was about 3 percent a year during this period). This increase in earnings over time for refugees is illustrated in the figure below. Looking at the arrival years vertically shows the increase for each annual arrival group over time, while each line itself shows the average wages for the refugees in that particular survey by arrival year.

TABLE II-6 - Education and English Proficiency Characteristics of Selected Refugee Groups

Education and Language Proficiency	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
Average Years of Education before U.S.	8.9	11.0	11.2	9.7	11.5	11.1	11.2	10.7
Highest Degree before U.S.
None	22.2	7.4	12.6	16.9	6.4	2.2	6.0	9.6
Primary School	21.9	17.2	15.7	16.3	12.8	15.7	20.7	17.3
Training in Refugee Camp	0.7	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	0.0	1.1
Technical School	0.7	7.2	13.8	7.5	2.4	24.1	0.0	10.8
Secondary School (or High School)	29.4	41.3	20.2	36.9	60.0	29.1	51.6	33.8
University Degree (Other than Medical)	6.5	8.2	11.4	4.4	16.0	14.8	9.7	9.9
Medical Degree	0.0	0.9	1.7	0.0	0.0	1.2	0.0	0.8
Other	0.7	0.2	0.6	0.0	0.0	1.5	0.0	0.6
Attended School/University (since U.S.)	41.9	19.5	16.6	23.6	31.2	20.1	14.5	21.9
Attended School/University (since U.S.) for degree/certificate	43.1	21.8	17.3	24.3	19.2	22.2	14.9	23.3
High School	23.6	8.6	6.5	13.0	9.6	11.3	206	10.6
Associates Degree	8.2	2.7	3.3	2.7	0.0	7.2	2.6	4.5
Bachelor’s Degree	9.3	9.5	2.8	7.3	9.6	3.2	9.0	6.6
Master’s/Doctorate	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.2
Professional Degree	0.4	0.6	1.4	1.1	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.6
Other	1.3	0.1	2.4	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.3	0.7
Degree Received	1.5	2.3	2.6	1.6	0.0	1.3	0.5	1.7
At Time of Arrival
Percent Speaking no English	24.3	60.1	57.3	34.8	20.0	60.1	47.4	51.3
Percent Not Speaking English Well	25.9	20.2	16.3	26.0	42.4	26.7	36.4	23.8
Percent Speaking English Well or Fluently	36.4	7.0	4.2	21.3	35.2	4.1	6.7	11.0
At Time of Survey
Percent Speaking no English	4.2	5.8	29.0	10.0	6.4	11.1	4.5	11.0
Percent Not Speaking English Well	9.7	18.7	40.6	31.3	7.2	39.3	8.4	26.4
Percent Speaking English Well or Fluently	79.5	67.3	26.8	58.7	84.0	45.3	74.7	56.6

Table II-7 - English Proficiency and Associated EPR by Year of Arrival

Year of Arrival	Percent Speaking No English (EPR)	Percent Not Speaking English Well (EPR)	Percent Speaking English Well or Fluently (EPR)
At Time of Arrival
2002	51.4 (55.2)	37.9 (50.6)	5.0 (55.1)
2001	45.2 (55.8)	28.9 (63.4)	15.3 (77.7)
2000	53.3 (48.8)	20.0 (62.3)	9.1 (63.1)
1999	44.1 (60.8)	28.1 (75.8)	15.4 (76.4)
1998	59.8 (70.4)	18.3 (69.6)	8.3 (73.9)
1997	64.1 (59.3)	24.2 (75.4)	6.9 (74.9)
Total Sample	51.3 (58.3)	23.8 (68.4)	11.0 (72.9)
At Time of Survey
2002	18.8 (2.6)	54.8 (53.4)	24.5 (41.9)
2001	14.3 (36.0)	29.8 (62.7)	51.8 (68.5)
2000	18.1 (39.0)	33.4 (52.1)	45.3 (62.4)
1999	5.8 (25.3)	22.7 (61.8)	65.9 (72.3)
1998	7.8 (32.2)	18.2 (62.3)	67.8 (77.0)
1997	6.9 (20.3)	26.1 (56.9)	65.4 (72.0)
Total Sample	11.0 (33.6)	26.4 (57.9)	56.6 (70.5)

Note: As of October 2002. 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 1997-2002. These figures refer to self-reported characteristics of refugees.

From the 2002 survey, the overall hourly wage of employed refugees who spoke English well or fluently at the time of the survey was $9.07 compared to $8.59 for refugees who did not speak English well and $8.77 for refugees who did not speak English at all. Upon closer examination, refugees who spoke English well or fluently at the time of the survey accounted for 67 percent of jobs that paid over $7.50 per hour compared to 24 percent of refugees who did not speak English well and only five percent of refugees who did not speak English at all. Finally, the number of refugees who reported home ownership also appears to rise with length of residence. Whereas 13 percent of refugees interviewed in the 2002 survey reported home ownership, eight percent of refugees interviewed in the 1997 survey reported home ownership (2002 and 1997 data).

Table II-10 details the economic self-sufficiency of the five-year sample population from the 2002 survey. According to the 2002 survey, almost 69 percent of all refugee households in the U.S. achieved economic self-sufficiency. That is they relied on earnings only for their sustenance (compared to 63, 65, 66, and 60 percent reported in the 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 surveys, respectively). An additional 19 percent had achieved partial independence, with household income a mix of earnings and public assistance (a decline from the percents reported in the 1997 - 2001 surveys).

For another 9 percent of refugee households, however, income in 2002 consisted entirely of public assistance (a decrease of five percentage points from the 2001 survey). The 2002 survey findings in the Public Assistance Only category reflect the lowest rates seen in this category since 1998.

The low rates of public assistance only cases coupled with an increase in earnings only cases may indicate that refugees are finding it easier to adjust to the U.S. workforce. Hourly wages, home ownership, and self-sufficiency for the most recent five surveys are contained in Table II-10. While there are year-to-year fluctuations because of the different mix of refugee demographics and skill levels, economic self-sufficiency tends to increase with time in the U.S., although largely within the first two years.

TABLE II-8 - Service Utilization by Selected Refugee Groups and for Year of Arrival

Type of Service Utilization	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
ELT since arrival Inside High School	15.8%	8.9%	2.4%	7.0%	9.6%	8.4%	5.9%	5.6%
ELT since arrival Outside of High School	34.9	17.2	23.8	40.9	14.4	28.7	4.8	16.6
Job training since arrival	9.7	5.7	9.4	3.7	0.0	5.4	0.0	4.2
Currently attending ELT Inside High School	15.8	8.9	2.4	7.0	9.6	8.4	5.9	5.6
Currently attending ELT Outside of High School	27.9	9.5	9.4	15.6	20.8	25.9	7.1	12.2
Type of Service Utilization by Year of Arrival		2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	All
ELT since arrival Inside High School		5.8%	6.9%	12.1%	5.5%	8.5%	6.1%	5.6%
ELT since arrival Outside of High School		46.9	31.0	21.4	15.2	10.2	4.2	16.6
Job training since arrival		8.2	7.8	5.8	6.3	2.3	0.0	4.2
Currently attending ELT Inside High School		5.8	6.9	12.1	5.5	8.5	6.1	5.6
Currently attending ELT Outside of High School		28.1	19.4	17.7	12.9	11.9	4.2	12.2

Note: Data refer to refugees 16 and over in the five-year sample population consisting of Amerasians, Entrants, and Refugees on all nationalities who arrived in the years 1997-2002. In order that English language training (ELT) not be confused with English high school instruction, statistics for both populations are given.



Figure 5. Average Hourly Wages of Employed Refugees by Year of Survey and Year of Arrival

TABLE II-9 - Hourly Wages, Home Ownership, and Self-Sufficiency by Year of Arrival: 2002 Survey

Year of Arrival	Hourly Wages of Employed -Current Job	Own Home / Apartment	Rent Home/  Apartment	Public Assistance Only	Both Public Assistance and Earnings	Earnings Only
2002	$8.85	1.6%	95.3%	35.4%	54.4%	10.3%
2001	8.09	12.5	82.8	5.1	28.8	58.6
2000	8.50	8.8	88.1	7.9	25.6	60.6
1999	8.86	11.0	87.2	8.3	10.9	75.8
1998	9.43	19.8	79.4	6.7	10.4	81.2
1997	10.12	19.2	77.9	13.9	15.1	67.2
Total Sample	9.37	13.4	85.7	8.7	18.7	68.8

Note: Data refers 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 1997-2002. These figures refer to self-reported characteristics of refugees.

TABLE II-10 - Average Hourly Wages, Home Ownership, and Public Assistance by Survey Year

Year of Survey	Average Hourly Wages of Employed	Own Home or Apartment	Rent Home or Apartment	Public Assistance Only	Both Public Assistance and Earnings	Earnings Only
2002 Survey	9.40	13.4	85.7	8.7	18.7	68.8
2001 Survey	8.90	7.2	91.9	14.0	21.9	62.7
2000 Survey	8.83	8.2	90.0	12.4	20.3	65.2
1999 Survey	8.29	13.0	84.9	12.8	19.1	66.4
1998 Survey	7.97	9.2	88.6	18.8	18.7	60.1

Note: As of October 2002, October 2001, October 2000, October 1999, and October 1998. Earnings figures are not adjusted for inflation. 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 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 surveys.

Table II-11 - Characteristics of Households by Type of Income

Refugee Households with:
Household Characteristics	Public Assistance Only		Both Public Assistance and Earnings	Earnings Only		Total Sample
Average Household Size	3.0		4.6	3.5		3.6
Average Number of wage earners per household	0.0		1.7	2.0		1.7
Percent of households with at least one member:
Under the age of 6	11.7%	32.1%		22.1%	22.9%
Under the age of 16	33.4	73.6		54.8	56.9
Fluent English Speaker	8.2	20.9		36.8	31.4

*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 1997-2002. Refugee households with neither earnings nor assistance are excluded.

For example 49 percent of refugees who entered the U.S. in 1997 relied on earnings only in the 1997 survey, 59 percent were self-sufficient in the 1998 survey, 57 percent in the 1999 survey, 57 percent in the 2000 survey, and 66 percent in the 2001 survey.

Table II-11 details several household characteristics by type of income. Households receiving public assistance average three members and no wage earners, while those with a mix of earnings and assistance income average five members and two wage earners. Households that receive no public assistance average 3.5 members with two wage earners. There were significantly more children in the mixed earning household (74 percent) than in the public assistance only and earnings only (55 percent) households. It is noteworthy that the public assistance only category had the least amount of children in the household (33 percent).

English language proficiency was lowest in welfare dependent households. Only eight percent of these households contained one or more persons fluent in English. In contrast, about 21 percent of households with a mix of earnings and assistance reported at least one fluent English speaker. Thirty-one percent of households with earnings income only reported at least one fluent English speaker. Again, the relationship between English language proficiency and income is clear; refugees are more likely to be self-sufficient when they are proficient in English.

Medical Coverage

Overall, more than 17 percent of adult refugees surveyed lacked medical coverage of any kind throughout the year preceding the survey (refer to Table II-12). In the 2002 survey, refugees with no medical coverage varied widely among the five refugee groups, with refugees from Other Southeast Asia countries all having medical coverage to refugees from Latin America having more than a third of the population without medical coverage. Refugees from Vietnam were the most likely to have medical coverage through employment (over 90 percent), while the group from Latin America was the least likely to have medical coverage through employment (almost 41 percent). These findings are consistent with the associated EPR for each refugee group. Medical coverage through Medicaid or Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) was highest for the Former Soviet Union (61 percent) and lowest for Other Southeast Asia (11 percent).

The proportion of refugees without medical coverage ranged from a low of 0 percent for 2002 arrivals in the Other Southeast Asia category to a high of 51 percent for 1999 Latin American arrivals reported in the 1998 survey. As a general rule, medical coverage through employment increases with time in the U.S., and medical coverage through government aid programs declines with time in the U.S. However, the refugees from the 2002 survey showed a marked increase in the number of refugees who received medical coverage through their employer (69 percent) as opposed to the previous year (50 percent). This finding is consistent with the EPR for year 2002 which showed an employment rate of 60 percent.

By contrast, almost 35 percent of refugees in the 2002 survey obtained medical coverage through Medicaid or RMA. This was higher than previous years (33 percent), 2000 (26 percent) and 1999 (28 percent). Over twice as many adult refugees were covered through employment than through government medical assistance programs.

Since 1998, the proportion of refugees without medical coverage (throughout the year preceding the survey) has dropped by 5 percent; medical coverage through Medicaid or RMA has remained relatively consistent; and medical coverage through employment has increased from 37 to 69 percent (refer to Table II-13).

Refugee Welfare Utilization

As in previous years, welfare utilization varied considerably among refugee groups. Table II-14 presents welfare utilization data on the households of the seven refugee groups formed from the survey respondents. Non-cash assistance was generally higher than cash assistance, probably because Medicaid, food stamp, and housing assistance programs, though available to cash assistance households, are also available to households with low-income workers. Nearly 34 percent of refugee households reported receiving food stamps in the previous 12 months versus the 36, 29, 27, 33, and 40 percent reported in the 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 and 1997 surveys, respectively.

TABLE II-12 - Source of Medical Coverage for Selected Refugee Groups and for Year of Arrival

Source of Medical Coverage	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
No Medical Coverage in any of past 12 months	15.5	13.4	38.8	24.7	0.0	11.7	2.9	17.4
Medical Coverage through employer	68.0	60.8	40.6	74.7	97.6	88.0	90.7	68.8
Medicaid or RMA	31.2	19.5	26.1	60.8	11.2	61.4	9.0	34.6
Source of Medical Coverage by Year of Arrival		2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	All
No Medical Coverage in any of the past 12 months		14.6	26.8	22.0	17.8	11.8	6.2	17.4
Medical Coverage through Employer		89.2	67.2	64.1	63.6	74.0	90.4	68.8
Medicaid or RMA		77.4	47.0	50.9	23.5	19.4	27.2	34.6

Note: As of October 2002. 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 1997-2002.

TABLE II-13 - Source of Medical Coverage for Selected Refugee Groups by Year of Survey

Year of Survey	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
No Medical Coverage in any of past 12 months
2002 Survey	15.5	13.4	38.8	24.7	0.0	11.7	2.9	17.4
2001 Survey	11.9	9.3	24.9	12.0	15.8	5.0	12.7	11.5
2000 Survey	15.1	8.8	7.8	7.6	4.7	6.4	5.1	7.9
1999 Survey	12.4	12.2	23.8	12.6	12.4	8.4	10.2	12.6
1998 Survey	24.0	13.0	50.8	27.7	7.5	9.3	26.9	22.3
Medical Coverage Through Employer
2002 Survey	68.0	60.8	40.6	74.7	97.6	88.0	90.7	68.8
2001 Survey	47.1	78.7	33.5	46.5	73.0	24.5	72.7	50.3
2000 Survey	59.9	73.9	52.7	71.5	56.1	34.3	84.6	61.0
1999 Survey	50.8	64.0	63.4	64.7	29.0	33.0	74.3	56.3
1998 Survey	31.6	58.4	30.9	29.2	15.4	28.9	43.7	37.1
Medicaid or RMA
2002 Survey	31.2	19.5	26.1	60.8	11.2	61.4	9.0	34.6
2001 Survey	35.7	10.4	33.1	34.3	9.9	62.3	13.7	33.0
2000 Survey	24.3	12.7	23.6	19.9	39.2	52.7	10.1	25.5
1999 Survey	33.8	18.4	10.5	20.6	58.5	53.6	13.9	27.7
1998 Survey	38.3	18.8	17.5	34.0	71.6	54.3	28.2	35.6

Note: As of October 2002, October2001, October 2000, October 1999, and October 1998. 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 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998.

TABLE II-14 - Public Assistance Utilization of Selected Refugee Groups by Household

Type of Public Assistance	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
Cash Assistance
Any Type of Cash Assistance	22.5%	16.6%	14.9%	27.1%	60.0%	55.4%	17.1%	27.4%
TANF	11.9	2.6	1.9	4.7	35.6	5.0	7.2	5.0
RCA	3.3	0.5	4.0	12.2	0.0	0.7	0.0	2.4
SSI	9.5	12.1	7.3	7.8	24.4	34.9	9.8	15.7
General Assistance	2.0	1.7	2.5	1.9	0.0	25.2	0.0	7.2
Non-cash Assistance
Medicaid or RMA	31.2	19.5	26.1	60.8	11.2	61.4	9.0	34.6
Food Stamps	35.6	22.5	28.6	47.5	17.8	54.0	11.5	33.5
Housing	23.5	7.3	6.4	1.3	0.0	22.7	2.1	11.7

Note: Data refer to refugee households in the five-year sample population consisting of Amerasians, Entrants, and Refugees of all nationalities who arrived in the years 1997-2002. Medicaid and RMA data refer to adult refugees age 16 and over. All other data refer to refugee households and not individuals. Many households receive more that one type of assistance.

Utilization ranged from a high of 60 percent for the group from Other Southeast Asia to a low of 15 percent for Latin America. Almost 35 percent of all refugees reported that their medical coverage was through low-income medical assistance programs (Medicaid or RMA), up from 33 percent in the 2001 survey and from 26 percent in the 2000 survey. In the 2002 survey, 12 percent of refugee households reported that they lived in public housing projects versus the 10, 12, 8, and 16 percent reported in the 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 surveys, respectively (refer to Table II-15).

Tables II-14 and II-15 also reveal that 27.4 percent of refugee households surveyed in 2002 had received some kind of cash assistance in at least one of the previous 12 months. This represents a decrease of 24 and 27 percent from the 2001 and 2000 surveys, respectively, and a decrease of 15 and 27 percent from the 1999 and 1998 surveys, respectively. Overall, receipt of any type of cash assistance was highest for Other Southeast Asia (60 percent) and Former Soviet Union (55.4 percent) and lowest for Latin America (14.9) and Eastern Europe (16.6 percent).

Five percent of all refugee households had received TANF in the last 12 months, approximately 42 percentage points less than the number reported in the 2001 survey. Utilization ranged from a high of 35.6 percent for Other Southeast Asia to a low of three percent for Eastern Europe and five percent for the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union.

TABLE II-15 - Public Assistance Utilization of Selected Refugee Groups by Year of Survey

Year Survey Administered	Africa	Eastern Europe	Latin America	Middle East	Other S.E. Asia	Former Soviet Union	Vietnam	All
Any Type of Cash Assistance
2002 Survey	22.5	16.6	14.9	27.1	60.0	55.4	17.1	27.4
2001 Survey	39.6	10.6	38.9	45.9	30.0	61.9	13.6	35.9
2000 Survey	38.4	18.1	27.4	29.5	46.0	55.4	22.8	32.7
1999 Survey	44.6	17.5	15.3	21.9	48.6	57.1	22.1	31.9
1998 Survey	37.9	16.3	11.8	24.2	59.6	59.9	38.3	37.5
Medicaid or RMA
2002 Survey	31.2	19.5	26.1	60.8	11.2	61.4	9.0	34.6
2001 Survey	35.7	10.4	33.1	34.4	9.9	62.3	13.7	33.0
2000 Survey	24.3	12.7	23.6	19.9	39.2	52.7	10.1	25.5
1999 Survey	33.8	18.4	10.5	20.6	58.5	53.6	13.9	27.7
1998 Survey	38.3	18.8	17.5	34.0	71.6	54.3	28.2	35.6
Food Stamps
2002 Survey	35.6	22.5	28.6	47.5	17.8	54.0	11.5	33.5
2001 Survey	42.5	10.0	45.2	35.0	40.0	59.4	13.2	35.8
2000 Survey	28.5	19.5	33.9	14.5	31.2	52.0	1.3	28.5
1999 Survey	40.3	15.3	14.7	18.2	46.2	50.3	10.7	26.7
1998 Survey	43.5	14.3	10.9	21.5	72.9	52.3	27.2	32.7
Public Housing
2002 Survey	23.5	7.3	6.4	1.3	0.0	22.7	2.1	11.7
2001 Survey	21.8	3.2	3.6	4.0	0.0	21.7	2.3	10.2
2000 Survey	23.2	6.9	4.0	7.2	21.2	26.5	1.3	12.1
1999 Survey	23.0	4.6	1.8	5.4	39.0	12.8	4.9	8.4
1998 Survey	18.9	0.5	0.7	7.6	26.7	13.6	37.7	16.2

Note: Data refer to refugee households in the five-year sample population consisting of Amerasians, Entrants, and Refugees of all nationalities who were interviewed as a part of the 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 surveys. Medicaid and RMA data refer to adult refugees age 16 and over. All other data refer to refugee households and not individuals. Many households received more than one type of assistance.

Only two percent of sampled households received RCA in 2002. This is unsurprising in view of the time limitation of RCA benefits to the first eight months after arrival in the U.S. Sixteen percent of refugee households had at least one household member who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in the past 12 months. This rate is three percentage points lower than in the 2001 survey, four percentage points lower than in the 2000 and 1999 surveys, and five percentage points lower than in the 1998 survey. Utilization varied largely according to the number of refugees over age 65. Refugees from the former Soviet Union were found to utilize SSI most often (35 percent). With more than 9 percent of their five-year population age 65 or over, 38 percent of their households received SSI. By contrast, only five percent of refugees from Middle East and Latin America were aged 65 or over and less than four percent of all remaining refugee groups were 65 or over. The median age for the seven refugee groups (more than 15 years old) ranged from a low of 27 years for Africa to 39 years for the former Soviet Union.

General Assistance (GA, also called General Relief or Home Relief in some States) is a form of cash assistance funded entirely with State or local funds. It generally provides assistance to single persons, childless couples, and families with children that are not eligible for TANF. The 2002 survey reported that about seven percent of refugee households received some form of GA during the past twelve months compared to nine, seven, six, and eight percent reported in the 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 surveys, respectively. Refugees from the Former Soviet Union showed the highest utilization rate (25 percent) followed by Latin America (2.5 percent) and Africa (2 percent). Refugees from the former Soviet Union initially resettled in New York are a case in point (discussed in more detail below). Refugees from Other Southeast Asia and Vietnam showed the lowest utilization rate (zero percent) followed by Eastern Europe and Middle East (less than two percent). The lack of utilization by refugees from Latin America (2.5 percent) may be related to their concentration in Florida, which has no State-funded General Assistance program (also discussed in more detail below).

TABLE II-16 - Employment-to-Population Ratio (EPR) and Welfare Dependency for Top Twelve States

Percent of Individuals (vs. Households) on Welfare
State	Arrivals*	EPR	AFDC/TANF	RCA	SSI	GA	Total**
Florida	(987)	70.0	1.8	4.0	7.8	0	16.0
California	(633)	54.1	11.5	2.0	21.1	10.4	45.0
New York	(606)	51.6	3.8	3.2	24.1	12.4	43.5
Washington	(495)	54.1	14.1	1.6	20.5	30.3	66.5
Illinois	(302)	63.8	1.6	3.5	19.0	4.1	28.2
Texas	(224)	56.9	18.0	4.4	20.4	4.4	47.2
Georgia	(216)	65.6	0.0	1.5	13.8	3.0	18.3
Minnesota	(202)	57.2	2.3	5.4	17.3	9.8	34.8
New Jersey	(178)	39.1	3.1	0.0	35.2	1.4	39.7
Massachusetts	(173)	59.4	3.9	4.1	13.8	5.4	27.2
Michigan	(157)	59.2	5.7	0.0	12.8	6.3	24.8
Ohio	(147)	55.2	5.1	0.0	28.5	9.1	42.7
Other States	(1860)	65.0	3.4	1.2	11.2	4.6	20.4
All States	(6,180)	60.8	5.1	2.4	15.6	7.3	30.4

*The State arrival figures are weighted totals.

**The column totals represent percent of individuals who received any combination of AFDC, RCA, SSI and/or GA, e.g., if an individual received AFDC, RCA, SSI, and GA, he/she is counted four times.

Note: As of October 2002. Not seasonally adjusted. Welfare utilization refers to receipt of public assistance in at least one of the past twelve months. The listed utilization rate for each type of public assistance is the ratio of the number of individuals (including minor children) receiving such aid to the total number of individuals in the five-year sample population residing in that State. Because some refugees have difficulty distinguishing between GA and TANF, some GA utilization may reflect TANF utilization. For data on welfare utilization by household, see Table II-12.

The relationship between employment and receipt of welfare varied across refugee groups. Refugees from Eastern Europe (17 percent), Vietnam (17 percent) and Latin America (15 percent) showed the lowest welfare utilization and the highest EPR (68 percent, 68 percent and 77 percent, respectively). Refugees from the former Soviet Union showed a relatively high welfare utilization rate (55 percent), but the lowest EPR (44.8 percent). Refugees from Africa showed low-to-moderate welfare utilization rates (23 percent) and a high EPR (60 percent). Finally, the Middle East showed a moderate welfare utilization rate (27 percent) with a relatively high EPR (53.1 percent).

Employment and Welfare Utilization Rates by State

The 2002 survey also reported welfare utilization and employment rates by State of residence. Table II-16 shows the EPR and utilization rates for various types of welfare for twelve States, as well as the nation as a whole. Unlike Table II-12, which computes welfare utilization rates for entire households, Table II-14 presents data on utilization by individual refugees (including children).

There was no consistent relationship between the EPR and rate of welfare utilization. For example, in States with a high refugee employment rate like Florida (70 percent) and Georgia (64 percent), welfare utilization among refugees was below 19 percent. However, other States reported a high EPR and a high rate of welfare utilization. For example, Texas (57 percent), Illinois (66 percent), California (54 percent), and Massachusetts (59 percent) had high EPRs but also had relatively high welfare utilization-48 percent, 28 percent, 45 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

Texas, followed by Washington and California, showed the highest proportion of TANF utilization (18, 14, and 11 percent, respectively). Minnesota (5.4 percent) followed by Texas (4.4 percent), Massachusetts (4.1 percent) and Florida (4.0 percent) showed the highest proportion of RCA utilization. New Jersey, followed by Ohio and New York, showed the highest proportion of SSI utilization (35, 28, and 24 percent, respectively). New Jersey, followed by Ohio and New York, showed the highest GA utilization (35, 28, and 24 percent, respectively).

Overall, findings from ORR's 2002 survey indicate (as in previous years) that refugees face significant problems upon arrival in the United States. But, over time, refugees generally find jobs and move toward economic self-sufficiency in their new country. Data also show that the continued progress of many refugee households toward self-sufficiency is tied to education, English proficiency and other characteristics as age at time of arrival and family support.

Technical Note: The ORR Annual Survey, with interviews conducted by DB Consulting Group, Inc. in the fall of 2002, is the 31st in a series conducted since 1975. Until 1993, the survey was limited to Southeast Asian refugees. A random sample was selected from the ORR Refugee Data File. ORR's contractor, DB Consulting Group, Inc. contacted the family by a letter in English and a second letter in the refugee's native language. If the person sampled was a child, an adult living in the same household was interviewed. Interviews were conducted by telephone in the refugee's native language. The questionnaire and interview procedures were essentially the same between the 1981 survey and the 1992 survey, except that beginning in 1985 the sample was expanded to a five-year population consisting of refugees from Southeast Asia who had arrived over the most recent five years.

For the 2002 survey, 1,146 households were contacted and interviewed. Refugees included in the 2001 survey who had not yet resided in the U.S. for five years were again contacted and interviewed along with a new sample of refugees, Amerasians, and entrants who had arrived between May 1, 2001 and April 30, 2002. Of the 1,418 re-interview cases from the 2001 sample, 926 were contacted and interviewed, and 20 were contacted, but refused to be interviewed. The remaining 472 re-interview cases could not be traced in time to be interviewed. Of the 814 new interview cases, 220 were contacted and interviewed, another eight were contacted, but refused to cooperate, and the remaining 586 could not be traced in time to be interviewed. The resulting responses were then weighted according to year of entry and ethnic category.

In addition, of the 472 re-interview cases which could not be traced in time to be interviewed, three were deceased, 21 moved back to their native country, ten households were not available despite repeated attempts to contact, and 292 households had wrong or disconnected phone numbers. Of the 586 new interview cases, which could not be traced in time to be interviewed, one household moved back to their native country, three were not available despite repeated attempts to contact, and 129 households had wrong or disconnected phone numbers.

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[1] The median wage for all full-time hourly workers in the U.S. for the fourth quarter of 2002 was $14.57 per hour.  The average weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers in the U.S. in 2002 was about $14.93 per hour.

This is a Historical Document.