Explaining Refugee Employment Declines: Structural Shortcomings in Federal Resettlement Support.

This article examines the long-term employment integration of refugees in the United States, revealing that despite initial access to federally funded resettlement services, refugees experience declines in employment the longer they reside in the country. Using longitudinal data from the New Immigrant Survey and interviews with 61 experts from refugee-serving nonprofit organizations, the study identifies three structural factors contributing to this decline: reduced federal resettlement funding, a policy emphasis on rapid self-sufficiency that prioritizes quick placement into low-wage, unstable jobs, and fragmented organizational networks that limit refugees' access to sustained employment support. The findings highlight how these systemic and organizational constraints, rather than individual refugee characteristics, shape refugees' labor market outcomes and underscore the need to consider nonprofit-government dynamics in understanding immigrant integration and persistent inequality.