Employment Among Immigrants and Implications for Health and Health Care
Drishti Pillai Follow @DrishPill on Twitter and Samantha Artiga Follow @SArtiga2 on Twitter
Published: Jun 12, 2023
Introduction
Immigrants are an integral part of our nation, including our nation’s workforce. Immigrants support the U.S. economy and its workforce by filling unmet labor market needs, especially in industries such as construction and agriculture that are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes and injuries, including climate-related health hazards.1,2 Through entrepreneurship and establishment of businesses, immigrants also create jobs that generate employment for other U.S. residents, including U.S.-born citizens.3 However, their employment patterns contribute to them having higher uninsured rates and facing increased health risks relative to their U.S.-born peers.4 While their employment patterns, in part, reflect lower educational attainment levels and skills among immigrant workers versus U.S.-born workers, research and data suggest that some immigrant workers may be overqualified for their jobs—that is having education or skills beyond what is necessary for their job.5,6 Addressing this occupational mismatch could help reduce disparities in health and health care faced by immigrant families and positively benefit the U.S. economy.
This brief examines socioeconomic characteristics and employment patterns among immigrant workers and examines how they compare to U.S.-born workers, including differences among college-educated workers. It discusses the implications of these patterns for their health and well-being as well as the nation’s economy. It is based on KFF analysis of the 2022 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The analysis is limited to nonelderly adult workers between ages 19-64 who are employed either full-time or part-time in the U.S. labor force. All differences between U.S.-born and immigrant workers described in the text are statistically significant at the p<0.05 level. In sum, it finds:
In 2021, there were 27 million immigrants employed in the labor force, making up close to one in five (17%) nonelderly adult workers (ages 19-64) in the U.S. The share of nonelderly adults who were employed was similar across U.S.-born citizens (78%), naturalized citizens (79%), and noncitizens in the U.S. for five or more years (76%), while it was 63% among recent noncitizens (in the U.S. for less than five years). Compared to their U.S.-born counterparts, nonelderly adult immigrant workers were more likely to be Hispanic or Asian, were younger, and had lower levels of educational attainment.
Among nonelderly adults, noncitizen workers were more likely than citizen workers to be employed in construction, agricultural, and service jobs. While some of these differences in occupation patterns likely reflect lower educational levels and skills among immigrant workers, differences in occupations persisted among college-educated workers. One in ten noncitizen workers with a college degree were employed in service jobs, compared with 6% of their U.S.-born peers. College-educated noncitizen workers were also more likely than their citizen counterparts to be employed in construction and transportation jobs.
https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/employment-among-immigrants-and-implications-for-health-and-health-care/
