484009NLF Foreign-born Share of Total Population and Labor Force, 1970-2010. 18.00 16.4 13.50 9.00 4.50 4.9 4.8 Civilian labor force age 16-64 6.6 6.2 9.3 7.9 12.6 11.1 12.9 Total Popula on 0.00 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Source: Audrey Singer, Immigrant Workers in the United States (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2012), with U.S. decennial census data, 1970-2000, and ACS 2010, accessed from IPUMS.org. Average Weekly Earnings of Full-time Foreign-born Workers Ages 25 to 64, by When They Came to the United States to Stay, 2009. Men from rest of world 1,180 1,100 Women from rest of world 920 860 950 950 Men from Mexico and Central America 700 790 760 Women from Mexico and Central America a 560 580 450 510 410 480 1989 or Earlier 1990-1999 2000-2005 2006-2009 Source: Congressional Budget Office (July 2010, Figure 4) based on monthly data from the Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, Outgoing Rotation Groups, 2009. a. The sample of women from Mexico and Central America arriving since 2006 is too small to produce reliable earnings estimates.
XXX10.1177/1095796013484009New Labor ForumCordero-Guzman and Nuñez research-article2013 Immigrant Labor and the U.S. Economy: A Profile New Labor Forum 22(2) 16 27 Copyright 2013, The Murphy Institute, City University of New York Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalspermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1095796013484009 nlf.sagepub.com Hector Cordero-Guzman 1 and Desiree Nuñez 1 Keywords immigrant workers, contingent workers, worker centers, community organizations, labor, unemployment Immigrants to U.S. continue to work building neighborhoods and communities. Credit: Julio Alpuy, Untitled (Sin título), 1994. Watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper. Collection of El Museo del Barrio, NY. Photo by Jason Mandella. Joana Alpuy. Gift of Joana Alpuy. Immigration reform is now solidly back on the U.S. policy agenda, reflecting the need for greater labor mobility and offering hope to millions of undocumented workers. As the debate gets underway, it is useful to examine exactly who immigrant workers are where do they come from, what are their main characteristics, and what role do they play in the U.S economy? Before doing so, however, we should also look briefly at the nature of the U.S. economy and its labor market, and the ongoing changes in both. Over the last twenty years, there have been significant changes in the structure and functioning of the U.S. labor market and in the demographic composition of the labor force. In the period between May 1991 and February 2001, for example, the U.S. economy grew steadily with close to 24.3 million jobs added while the proportion of the labor force that was foreign born increased from 9 percent to around 14 percent in 2009 to 16.4 percent by 2010. Employment growth stagnated in the period between February 2001 and August 2003 with close to 2.7 million jobs lost. The economy recovered anemically between August 2003 and January 2008, adding 8.1 million jobs leading many analysts to label the first decade of the twenty-first century as one of jobless recovery that ended with the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Between January 2008 and February 2010, a period described as the Great Recession, the economy lost a staggering 8.8 million jobs, and estimates suggest that, as of December 2012, there were more than 12.2 million unemployed Americans. 1 In explaining these recent trends, analysts have pointed to changes in the structure of regional economies, changes in the demand for labor, and increasing connections to the global economy. 2 The increasing globalization of markets for capital, labor, production, and consumption, and the growing integration of these 1 Baruch College, New York, USA Corresponding Author: Hector Cordero-Guzman, hector.cordero@baruch.cuny.edu
18 New Labor Forum 22(2) Table 1. Composition of the U.S. Labor Force by Birthplace. Numbers (millions) of labor force of foreign-born labor force Average years of education completed Total labor force 154.1 100.0 n.a. 13.7 Native born 130.2 84.5 n.a. 13.9 Foreign born 23.9 15.5 100.0 12.5 Mexico and Central America 9.6 6.3 40.3 9.8 Mexico 7.7 5.0 32.0 9.7 El Salvador 0.9 0.6 3.6 9.9 Other foreign born 14.3 9.3 59.7 14.3 Asia 6.3 4.1 26.2 14.8 Canada and Europe 2.8 1.8 11.8 14.7 Caribbean 2.2 1.4 9.3 13.1 South America 1.7 1.1 7.0 13.5 Africa 1.1 0.7 4.5 14.3 Oceania 0.1 0.1 0.6 13.3 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). markets have been facilitated by the evolution of global production chains, corporate networks, and the interconnectedness of local, regional, national, and global labor recruitment systems. In addition, advances in technology, transportation, and telecommunications, and the increasing use of subcontracting and flexible production regimes in a range of jobs and industries have supported the integration of local and global consumption, production, and labor markets, and have increased labor mobility. Growing use of temporary workers, and increasing reliance on the staffing industry and other labor market intermediaries to source and secure labor in many sectors have become central to the human resource management strategies of global, regional, and even small local firms. At the same time, growing corporate power, the proliferation of anti-labor laws and practices, and declining unionization across regions and sectors of the U.S. economy have sharply reduced the power of workers to negotiate terms of employment, working conditions, and benefits. While many workers have experienced a loss of power relative to employers, they continue to be increasingly productive, enabling firms to produce more output with lower labor inputs and fewer full-time workers. The shifts in the demand for labor have been characterized by a declining manufacturing base, increased demand for higher skilled specialized labor, and growth in a wide range of service sectors and industries. The number of foreign-born workers increased from 12.9 million in 1994 to 23.9 million in 2009. Over this period, the number of foreign-born workers in the United States has grown steadily. Changes in the structure of the economy and labor market have combined with changing demographics of the population, growing diversity in the workforce, increased migration, and a higher proportion of workers born abroad. While there is significant concentration from Mexico and Central America, immigrant flows are also quite diverse in terms of national origin, education, family composition, employment status, and other social resources. There are also significant differences in the types of immigrant flows, ranging from unskilled workers to technical and professional workers, businesses and other investors, students, refugees and asylum seekers, and family members. The reasons, modalities, and networks of each migration flow are central to the particular insertion of immigrants into the economy, and these differences help us understand variations in the outcomes of immigrants in the labor market.
Cordero-Guzman and Nuñez 19 Table 2. Size, Growth, and Geographic Distribution of the U.S. Labor Force by Birthplace. Number (millions) 1994 2004 2009 California NY, FL, TX, NJ, IL Distribution in 2009 Rest of country Total labor force 131.1 147.4 154.1 18 42 94 Native born 118.1 126.0 130.2 12 33 86 Foreign born 12.9 21.4 23.9 6 9 8 Mexico and Central America 4.6 8.3 9.6 3 3 3 Other foreign born 8.3 13.1 14.3 3 6 5 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). Immigrant Workers: A Complex Profile While there is significant variation in national origin of foreign-born workers (our operational definition of immigrants ), close to 40.3 percent were from Mexico and Central America, with Mexico alone accounting for 7.7 million or 32 percent of all foreign-born workers (see Table 1). 3 Close to 91 percent of workers in the U.S. labor force are U.S. citizens, but fewer than half (45 percent) of foreign-born workers are citizens, including only 28 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America. 4 Table 2 shows that the number of foreignborn workers increased from 12.9 million in 1994 to 23.9 million in 2009, with workers from Mexico and Central America increasing from 4.6 million to 9.6 million. The average annual growth rate for the native born was 0.7 percent but 4.2 percent for the foreign born and 5 percent for those from Mexico and Central America. Close to 23.1 million workers were added to the labor force between 1994 and 2007, with 11 million of these born abroad (5 million from Mexico and Central America), which means that foreignborn workers account for 47.6 percent of the total growth in the labor force over that period. 5 The state of California has the largest number of foreign-born workers, with six million out of a total workforce of eighteen million. Half of the foreign-born workers in California are from Mexico and Central America. Close to 66 percent of the workforce in California are native born and 34 percent are foreign born (up from 28 percent in 1994). In New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois, close to 22 percent of the workforce are foreign born, up from 15 percent in 1994, while close to 9 percent of the labor force in the other states are foreign born, up from 4 percent in 1994. Gender Differences The percentage of immigrants in the labor force is significantly higher among men, with 80 percent of foreign born and 70 percent of the native born in the labor force, than it is among women, with 60 percent of native-born women and 55 percent of the foreign born in the labor force. Table 3 shows that immigrant men from Mexico and Central America have the highest percentage in the labor force (87 percent compared with 75 percent for other foreign born), but immigrant women from Mexico and Central America have the lowest labor force participation rate at 52 percent compared with 57 percent for other foreign-born women and 60 percent for U.S.-born women. The unemployment rate for men at 10.3 percent is significantly higher than the rate for women at 8.1 percent, but there are significant differences by both gender and nativity. While the unemployment rate of 9.9 percent for foreign-born men is similar to the level for U.S.- born workers at 10.4 percent, unemployment is significantly higher among men born in Mexico and Central America at 11.4 percent compared with other foreign-born men at 8.6 percent. Similarly, while native-born women have an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent, foreign-born women have a significantly higher unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, driven by a much higher rate of 12.1 percent for women born in
Table 3. Labor Force Status of Men and Women by Birthplace. in the labor force employed Unemployment rate in the labor force employed Unemployment rate Average years of education completed Average age who are men who are citizens Age 16 and older Men Women Labor force age 25 and older Total 72 65 10.3 59 54 8.1 13.8 44 54 91 Native born 70 63 10.4 60 55 7.9 14.1 45 52 100 Foreign born 80 73 9.9 55 50 9.1 12.6 43 59 45 Mexico and Central America 87 77 11.4 52 46 12.1 9.7 40 67 28 Other foreign born 75 69 8.6 57 53 7.7 14.4 45 54 56 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). Table 4. Educational Attainment of the U.S. Labor Force Age Twenty-Five and Older by Birthplace. Eighth grade or less Ninth to twelfth grade and no diploma High school diploma or GED Some college or an associate s degree Bachelor s degree Graduate courses or graduate degree All levels of educational attainment Total labor force 3 6 29 28 22 12 100 Native born 1 5 30 30 23 12 100 Foreign born 16 11 25 17 19 12 100 Mexico and Central America 34 21 27 11 5 2 100 Other foreign born 4 5 23 21 28 19 100 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). 20
Cordero-Guzman and Nuñez 21 Mexico and Central America compared with other foreign-born women at 7.7 percent. Education Status Although the average years of education of the total labor force is 13.7, there are significant national origin differences in education levels, with workers born in Mexico and Central America having the lowest education levels at 9.8 years followed, from low to high, by persons born in the Caribbean (13.1), Oceania (13.3), South America (13.5), Africa (14.3), Canada and Europe (14.7), and Asia, with an average of 14.8 years of education. At first glance, the educational distribution of the foreign-born labor force appears more bifurcated and lower than the educational distribution of native-born workers (see Table 4). However, this conceals significant differences between immigrants from Mexico and Central America when compared with other foreignborn workers. Table 4 provides more detail on the educational distribution of foreign-born workers older than twenty-five and compares it with the native-born labor force. It shows that close to 55 percent of workers from Mexico and Central America had less than a twelfth-grade education compared with 9 percent of other foreign-born and 6 percent of native-born workers. In contrast, only 7 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America have a bachelor s or graduate degree compared with 47 percent of other foreign-born workers and 35 percent of U.S.-born workers. For persons sixteen to twenty-four years of age, 59 percent of the native born were enrolled in school compared with 46 percent of the foreign born, and 28 percent for those born in Mexico and Central America. Although foreign-born workers make up 15.5 percent of the U.S. labor force, they are over three quarters (77 percent) of workers with less than an eighth-grade education and about a third (31 percent) of those with some high school education (but who did not complete it). The proportion of foreign-born workers with a high school diploma (14 percent) and with a bachelor s degree (14 percent) is similar to their proportion in the labor force (15.5 percent), but the proportion with some college or an associate s degree (10 percent) is much lower while the proportion of foreign-born workers with some graduate courses or a graduate degree (17 percent) is slightly higher than that of the nativeborn population. Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are highly overrepresented in the lower educational categories with 55 percent having less than a high school degree and 82 percent having a high school degree (or less) compared with 9 percent of other foreign-born and 6 percent of native-born workers with less than a high school degree. Close to 32 percent of other foreign-born and 36 percent of U.S.-born workers have a high school degree or less. In contrast, 35 percent of U.S.-born workers and 47 percent of workers born elsewhere had a bachelor s degree or more (had taken graduate courses or have a graduate degree). Immigrants from Mexico and Central America have significantly lower levels of formal education when compared with native-born workers. Other foreign-born workers have modest over-representation in the lower educational categories, but the proportion of other foreign-born workers with a college education and beyond is significantly higher than that of the native born. Immigrant Youth Table 5 presents data on the labor force status of persons aged sixteen to twenty-four and suggests that 58 percent are in the labor force with an unemployment rate of 20.1 percent. Close to 78 percent of young workers born in Mexico and Central America were in the labor force, and they had the lowest unemployment rate at 13.5 percent. In contrast, 52 percent of other foreignborn men were in the labor force with an unemployment rate of 16.1 percent. Unemployment for native-born youth is the highest at 28.8 percent. The labor force participation rate of young women at 55 percent is close to the rate of young men at 58 percent. But foreign-born young women have a lower participation rate at 44
Table 5. Labor Force Status and Selected Characteristics of Persons Sixteen to Twenty-Four Years of Age by Birthplace. in the labor force employed Unemployment rate in the labor force employed Unemployment rate enrolled in school or college not enrolled who are not high school graduates Age 16 to 24 Men Women Total 58 47 20.1 55 47 14.9 58 19 Native born 58 46 28.8 56 48 14.7 59 16 Foreign born 65 56 14.5 46 38 16.9 46 38 Mexico and Central America 78 67 13.5 44 36 18.4 28 50 Other foreign born 52 44 16.1 47 40 15.8 62 18 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). Table 6. Top Ten Occupations of Workers Ages Twenty-Five to Sixty-Four by Birthplace. Construction and extraction Production Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance Sales and related Management Office and administrative support Transportation and material moving Food preparation and serving related Health care practitioner and technical Personal care and service in top ten Total labor force 5.5 5.8 3.8 10.2 12.1 12.8 5.8 3.9 6 3.3 69.2 Native born 4.9 5.2 2.8 10.5 12.9 13.8 5.5 3.2 6.1 3 67.9 Foreign born 8.8 8.7 8.5 8.4 8.2 7.8 7.5 7.4 5.4 4.5 75.2 Mexico and Central America 17 12.8 15.1 5.9 3.7 5.5 10.6 11.6 1.1 2.9 86.2 Other foreign born 3.7 6 4.4 9.9 11 9.2 5.6 4.8 8.1 5.5 68.2 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). 22
Cordero-Guzman and Nuñez 23 Table 7. of Workers Ages Twenty-Five to Sixty-Four by Educational Level of the Occupation. Education level of occupational group Low Middle High All occupational groups All workers Native born 23 49 29 100 Foreign born Mexico and Central America 70 26 4 100 Other foreign born 28 41 31 100 Native born 30 44 26 100 Foreign born Mexico and Central America 76 21 3 100 Other foreign born 31 38 31 100 Men Women Native born 14 54 32 100 Foreign born Mexico and Central America 58 36 6 100 Other foreign born 24 45 31 100 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). percent for those born in Mexico and Central America, and 47 percent for young women born elsewhere. The unemployment rate for foreignborn women at 16.9 percent is higher than the rate for those born in the United States at 14.9 percent, with young women born in Mexico and Central America having the highest unemployment rate at 18.4 percent. The labor force participation rate of younger workers is lower not only because of the challenges they face in finding employment but also due to patterns of school enrollment. For persons sixteen to twenty-four years of age, 59 percent of the native born were enrolled in school compared with 46 percent of the foreign born, and 28 percent for those born in Mexico and Central America. At the other end, close to 19 percent of persons sixteen to twenty-four years of age were not enrolled in school and did not have a high school degree from a low of 16 percent for native-born young persons to a high of 38 percent for foreign young persons, an average driven mostly by a much higher rate for young persons born in Mexico and Central America (50 percent) who are neither enrolled in school nor are high school graduates compared with 18 percent for other foreign born. A significant proportion of young workers from Mexico and Central America are entering the labor force at high rates, but with relatively low levels of formal education that can limit opportunities for labor market mobility and future earnings growth. Immigrant Occupations and Earnings Table 6 includes data on the top ten occupations for foreign-born workers arranged from highest to lowest percentages and taken from the list of twenty-two occupational groups that are found in the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC). 6 These ten occupations include 69 percent of all workers, 68 percent of nativeborn workers, 75 percent of foreign-born workers, 86.2 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America, and 68 percent of workers born elsewhere.
24 New Labor Forum 22(2) The most common occupations for all workers are office and administrative support; management; sales and related; education, training, and library; and health care practitioner and technical. But there are significant differences by nativity. For the U.S.-born, the top occupations include office and administrative support (13.8 percent); management (12.9 percent); sales and related (10.5 percent); education, training, and library (7 percent); health care practitioner and technical (6.1 percent); and transportation and materials moving (5.5 percent), while for the foreign born, they are construction and extraction (8.8 percent), production (8.7 percent), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (8.5 percent), sales and related (8.4 percent), and management (8.2 percent). Workers born in Mexico and Central America have a significantly different occupational profile compared with other foreign-born workers. The top five occupations for workers from Mexico and Central America include construction and extraction (17 percent), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (15.1 percent), production (12.8 percent), food preparation and serving related (11.6 percent), and transportation and materials moving (10.6 percent), while other foreign-born workers are concentrated in management (11 percent), sales and related (9.9 percent), office and administrative support (9.2 percent), health care practitioner and technical (8.1 percent), and production (6 percent). Close to half (48.5 percent) of U.S.- born workers are in the top five occupations compared with 44.2 percent of other foreign born and 67.1 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America who are highly concentrated in low-wage occupations. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) conducted an analysis of occupational quality by dividing occupations into three categories (low, middle, and high) based on average years of schooling completed in each occupation (see Table 7). Close to 23 percent of native-born workers were in the low occupational category, 49 percent in the middle category, and 29 percent in high education jobs. Close to 70 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America were concentrated in the low education jobs, with 26 percent in middle jobs, and 4 percent in the positions requiring higher levels of education. In contrast, the distribution of other foreign-born workers is slightly more bifurcated, with 28 percent concentrated in the low education jobs, 41 percent in middle jobs, and a high of 31 percent in occupations requiring higher levels of education. For workers born in Mexico and Central America, the top industry is construction (17.1 percent). For other foreign-born workers, the top sector is education and health care (24.4 percent). Table 8 provides information on the top ten industries for foreign-born workers, arranged from highest to lowest percentages, based on the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 7 The top ten industries include 92.5 percent of all workers, 92.6 percent of U.S.-born workers, and a slightly higher proportion of foreign-born workers at 93.4 percent, including 91.4 percent of workers from Mexico and Central America and 95.1 percent of other foreign-born workers. The top industries for all workers include education and health services (23.5 percent), professional and business services (11.1 percent), manufacturing (11 percent), retail trade (9.9 percent), and construction (7.3 percent). For native born, they are education and health care (24.6 percent), professional and business services (10.9 percent), manufacturing (10.7 percent), retail trade (10 percent), and financial activities (7.6 percent). For workers born in Mexico and Central America, the top industry is construction (17.1 percent), followed by leisure and hospitality (15.3 percent), manufacturing (15 percent), education and health care (8.9 percent), and retail trade (8.1 percent). For other foreign-born workers, the top sector is education and health care (24.4 percent) followed by professional and business services (12.3 percent), manufacturing (11.2 percent), retail trade (10.3 percent), and leisure and hospitality (9.5 percent).
Table 8. Top Ten Industries of Workers Ages Twenty-Five to Sixty-Four by Birthplace. Education and health services Manufacturing Professional and business services Leisure and hospitality Construction Retail trade Other services Transportation and utilities Financial activities Public administration in top ten Total labor force 23.5 11 11.1 7 7.3 9.9 4.8 5.6 7.2 5.4 92.8 Native born 24.6 10.7 10.9 6 6.8 10 4.4 5.6 7.6 6 92.6 Foreign born 18.2 12.7 12.1 11.8 9.7 9.4 6.9 5.3 4.9 2.4 93.4 Mexico and Central America 8.9 15 11.8 15.3 17.1 8.1 7.5 4.1 2.5 1.1 91.4 Other foreign born 24.4 11.2 12.3 9.5 5.1 10.3 6.5 6 6.5 3.3 95.1 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). Table 9. Difference in Average Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Workers Compared with U.S.-born Workers with U.S.-born Parents. Eighth grade or less Ninth to twelfth grade and no diploma High school diploma or GED Some college or an associate s degree Bachelor s degree Graduate courses or graduate degree All levels of educational attainment Average weekly earnings of workers as a percentage of the average earnings of native-born workers and those with native-born parents Men Native born Parents from Mexico and Central America 86 98 88 86 91 97 78 Parents from the rest of the world N/A N/A 99 99 102 102 112 Foreign born Mexico and Central America 82 79 78 78 73 84 56 Rest of the world 88 96 87 88 92 96 100 Women Native born Parents from Mexico and Central America 78 95 99 91 96 105 86 Parents from the rest of the world 71 89 106 108 101 106 115 Foreign born Mexico and Central America 78 82 78 87 83 93 60 Rest of the world 87 89 95 98 100 102 104 Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: An Update (Washington, D.C.: Congress of the United States, July 2010). Note: N/A = small sample sizes. 25
26 New Labor Forum 22(2) Table 9 presents average weekly earnings for full-time foreign-born workers twenty-five to sixty-four years of age by education level compared with U.S.-born workers. The data show that the gaps in weekly earnings between nativeand foreign-born workers at similar levels of education are significant. This is particularly true for men and women born in Mexico and Central America, with an overall earnings gap of 56 percent (fifty-six cents per dollar) for males and 60 percent for women. For men and women born in the United States with parents born in Mexico and Central America, the earnings gap still exists but is significantly smaller at 78 percent for males and 86 percent for females. This contrasts with a slight weekly earnings advantage for U.S.-born children of other foreign-born parents (112 percent for males and 115 percent for females) and for foreign-born workers at 100 percent for males and 104 percent for females compared with that for U.S.-born workers with U.S.-born parents. Examining the data within educational categories suggests that workers born in Mexico and Central America, or born in the United States but with parents born in Mexico and Central America, face significant gaps in earnings across all educational categories with a slight reduction in the earnings gap for those with graduate courses or a graduate degree and for those who have been in the United States more than 20 years. Policy Changes to Improve Opportunities for Immigrant Workers The prospects for immigration reform in Washington are better than they have been in over a decade, with proposals ranging from plans for an efficient and effective visa and entry process to an expansion in the number of professional and educational opportunities, and a potential path to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers. In addition, while immigration policy is a federal responsibility, states and localities can have a significant impact on the policies that affect immigrants (supply side), that provide access to organizational and institutional resources (intermediation strategies), or that impact the demand for labor, including types of jobs, job quality, industrial policy, and public or private investments. Access to adult education programs and community colleges is essential to improving [foreign-born workers ] human capital. Immigrants relatively low levels of formal education, particularly those from Mexico and Central America, suggest that access to adult education programs and community colleges as well as improved credential recognition are essential to improving their human capital. So, too, are greater access to the workforce development system, including skills-based training opportunities, and to English language instruction that can facilitate occupational and social mobility. Many immigrants work in occupations and sectors of the labor market that are plagued with harsh working conditions and violations of wage, hour, and other labor laws, and there are several demand-side policies that should be considered. Improved enforcement, continued development of sectoral strategies by low-wage worker organizations and worker centers, and increased support to worker-rights organizations and campaigns are needed to increase awareness and improve the quality of low-wage jobs. In addition, policies that provide for increases in the minimum wage, paid sick days, and paid family leave have disproportionately positive impacts on the take-home pay of low-wage and immigrant workers. The growth of immigrant community organizing, the continuing development of worker centers, and better ties between immigrant groups and organized labor including access to unionized occupations and workplaces, union organizing in unorganized sectors, and increased partnership between organized labor and immigrant organizations have all helped improve wages and working conditions for many immigrant workers and have the promise of reaching more workers in various sectors of the labor market and the economy.
Cordero-Guzman and Nuñez 27 Foreign-born workers have become an increasingly important segment of the labor force, but many are trapped in the most precarious sectors of the economy. By bringing undocumented workers out of the shadows, there is a potential for addressing education, employment, and family challenges that impact immigrants, reduce the prevalence of workplace abuses, and improve working conditions for all workers. Acknowledgment The authors acknowledge the comments from Elizabeth Pantaleon, Martha Chavez, and Catherina Villafuerte. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Ford Foundation (CUNY Research Foundation 74947) and the Public Welfare Foundation (CUNY Research Foundation 74950). Notes 1. Christopher J. Goodman and Steven M. Mance, Employment Loss and the 2007-09 Recession: An Overview, Monthly Labor Review 134, no. 4 (April 2011). For current employment statistics, see www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm. 2. See eds. Annette Bernhardt, Heather Boushey, Laura Dresser, and Chris Tilly, The Gloves-Off Economy: Workplace Standards at the Bottom of America s Labor Market (Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, 2008); Harry J. Holzer, Julia I. Lane, David B. Rosenblum, and Fredrik Andersson, Where Are All the Good Jobs Going: What National and Local Job Quality and Dynamics Mean for U.S. Workers (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2011); and Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman, Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2011). 3. About 59.7 percent of foreign-born workers came from other places, including 26.2 percent from Asia, 11.8 percent from Canada and Europe, 9.3 percent from the Caribbean, 7 percent from South America, 4.5 percent from Africa, and less than 1 percent from Oceania. 4. More than half (56 percent) of other foreignborn workers have U.S. citizenship. 5. Foreign-born workers were 9.8 percent of the labor force in 1994, 14.5 percent a decade later in 2004, and 15.5 percent by 2009. 6. For more information on the SOC from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, see www.bls.gov/ soc/2000/soc_majo.htm, and for revised categories, see www.bls.gov/soc. 7. For more information on the NAICS from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, see www.bls. gov/bls/naics.htm. Author Biographies Hector Cordero-Guzman is a professor at the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, and in the Ph.D. programs in sociology and urban education of the City University of New York (CUNY). Prior to joining The School of Public Affairs at CUNY, he was a program officer in the economic development and the quality employment units of the Asset Building and Community Development Program at The Ford Foundation. Desiree Nuñez is a student at Baruch College, majoring in accounting.