NCIIP: Employment and Workforce

Policy Briefs

October 2023

Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants

Adult immigrant students work together in an English class

iStock.com/shironosov

Immigrants make significant contributions to the U.S. economy and social fabric, but many also face barriers to integration. Adult education and workforce development programs offer services intended to help address such challenges yet can be mismatched to immigrants' needs. This issue brief sketches a profile of U.S.-born and immigrant adults, highlighting key similarities and differences relevant to the design of adult skills programs.

Commentaries

November 2022

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

Photo of a preschool teacher reading to students.

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

Shortages of workers continue to plague early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems across the United States. With the field already struggling to effectively serve young children in families that speak languages other than English, apprenticeship programs offer a promising solution to bring more—and more multilingual—workers into early childhood careers.

Reports

February 2022

The IELCE Program: Understanding Its Design and Challenges in Meeting Immigrant Learners’ Needs

Immigrant adults working together at a long table in a classroom

iStock.com/lisegagne

U.S. adult education systems have undergone significant changes, including to programs supporting immigrant integration. The creation of the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) program has sparked the development of innovative initiatives, but also raised concerns about their accessibility and ability to meet immigrant adults’ diverse learning goals and needs.

Policy Briefs

December 2021

The Invisible Work of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers and Its Importance for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

A grandmother and young grandchild painting at home

iStock.com/ideasRojas

Child care provided informally by relatives, friends, and neighbors is the most common form of U.S. child care, and it is particularly prevalent among immigrant and Dual Language Learner families. Yet it is frequently overlooked in child-care policy conversations. This brief explores the importance of this type of care and highlights promising practices for increasing support for care providers and the families they serve.

Commentaries

November 2021

Narrowing the Skills Gap: Equipping Immigrant-Origin Workers with Postsecondary Credentials

Photo of woman walking around a school campus.

iStock.com/RyanJLane

The number of U.S. adults who could benefit from efforts to boost postsecondary credential attainment is strikingly large. Nearly 96 million working-age adults lack a postsecondary credential, 28 million of them of immigrant origin, MPI estimates. This commentary examines how enabling immigrant-origin adults to attain credentials beyond a high school diploma is vital to both building a skilled workforce and closing equity gaps.

Fact Sheets

April 2021

Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics

Parents and their children sit in a library for Princeton Children's Book Festival 2018

Princeton Public Library

Parents play an important role in supporting their children’s education, but certain factors—such as limited English proficiency, low levels of formal education, and digital access barriers—can make it difficult to do so. This fact sheet series looks at the characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and elementary-school-age children in 31 states and nationwide, and discusses how taking a two-generation approach to services can benefit entire families.

Recent Activity

Multimedia June 24, 2021 Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States: A Persistent Problem with Increasing Costs	Commentaries June 2021 A Solvable Challenge: Improving Asylee Access to Health and Other Benefits By Essey Workie, Mark Greenberg and Lillie Hinkle
Reports June 2021 Leaving Money on the Table: The Persistence of Brain Waste among College-Educated Immigrants By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Policy Briefs April 2021 The Integration of Immigrant Health Professionals: Looking beyond the COVID-19 Crisis By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and José Ramón Fernández-Peña
Fact Sheets April 2021 Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh	Commentaries February 2021 A Deeper Look at the DREAMers Who Could Feature in the Legalization Debate in Congress By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Commentaries December 2020 The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic By Michael Fix, Jeanne Batalova and José Ramón Fernández-Peña	Fact Sheets November 2020 An Early Readout on the Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis: Immigrant Women Have the Highest Unemployment By Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and Randy Capps

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Fact Sheets July 2020 Brain Waste among U.S. Immigrants with Health Degrees: A Multi-State Profile By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Sarah Pierce	Fact Sheets June 2020 COVID-19 and Unemployment: Assessing the Early Fallout for Immigrants and Other U.S. Workers By Randy Capps, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
Fact Sheets May 2019 A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee	Fact Sheets March 2019 Immigrant-Origin Adults without Postsecondary Credentials: A 50-State Profile By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports March 2019 Credentials for the Future: Mapping the Potential for Immigrant-Origin Adults in the United States By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Reports December 2018 Promoting Refugee Integration in Challenging Times: The Potential of Two-Generation Strategies By Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, Jessica Bolter, Essey Workie and Isabelle Charo
Policy Briefs October 2018 English Plus Integration: Shifting the Instructional Paradigm for Immigrant Adult Learners to Support Integration Success By Margie McHugh and Catrina Doxsee	Reports September 2018 A Profile of Houston’s Diverse Immigrant Population in a Rapidly Changing Policy Landscape By Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

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Video, Audio

September 28, 2015

Overcoming WIOA’s Barriers to Immigrant and Refugee Adult Learners

This webinar examines the implementation at state and local levels of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and how it may limit immigrant integration, along with a discussion on strategies that may help ensure more equitable access to services.

EventPH 2015.4.28 Ready to Meet the Needs of All Children A Closer Look at Diversity in the Early Childhood Workforce

Video, Audio

April 28, 2015

Ready to Meet the Needs of All Children? A Closer Look at Diversity in the Early Childhood Workforce

On this webinar, MPI analysts present the findings from their report Immigrant and Refugee Workers in the Early Childhood Field: Taking a Closer Look, and discuss the issue with a leading expert in the field of child-care worker employment.

EventPH 2015.3.18 Cross Cutting Needs and Opportunities flickrNewYorkPublicLibrary

Video, Audio

March 18, 2015

Cross-Cutting Needs and Opportunities: Language Access, Funding, Multi-Level Partnerships, and Planning for the Long Term

Part of a series exploring issues likely to be addressed by the new National Integration Plan, this webinar, with perspectives from the cities of New York and Seattle and others examines possible recommendations on federal coordination of local government immigrant integration initiatives, including language access.

EventPH 2015.3.12 Integration Challenges and Opportunities in the Economic Development and Refugee Resettlement Arenas NDC Ashama

Video, Audio

March 12, 2015

Integration Challenges and Opportunities in the Economic Development and Refugee Resettlement Arenas

This webinar, with perspectives from MPI, the WE Global Network, and Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, examines the role of economic development initiatives and refugee resettlement programs/infrastructure in immigrant integration.

EventPH 2015.3.5 Adult Education, English and Skills Training Webinar Carlos Rosario ESL group work

Video, Audio

March 5, 2015

Adult Education, English and Skills Training: Opportunities for Action and Investment in the Most Vital Integration Services

This webinar, with perspectives from MPI, the National Partnership for New Americans, and the National Skills Coalition, looks at the role of adult education and English language and skills training in the immigrant integration process.

Recent Activity

Audio, Webinars

June 24, 2021

Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States: A Persistent Problem with Increasing Costs

During this webcast, experts discuss findings from a report examining at U.S. and state levels the underemployment of college graduates by nativity and by race and ethnicity, in the process revealing patterns of economic inequality. The conversation includes immigrant and employer voices who explore the promising strategies that exist to mitigate this brain waste for the benefit of the U.S. economy, local communities, and the workers themselves.

Commentaries

June 2021

A Solvable Challenge: Improving Asylee Access to Health and Other Benefits

While asylees are eligible for many of the same public benefits and services as resettled refugees, including health care and employment assistance, there is no system to inform them of their eligibility and to help connect them to resources. MPI estimates that fewer than 20 percent of those granted asylum in recent years received Office of Refugee Resettlement benefits during their first year. The U.S. government could address this gap with a few simple measures.

Reports

June 2021

Leaving Money on the Table: The Persistence of Brain Waste among College-Educated Immigrants

While the educational credentials of recent immigrants to the United States have steadily risen, licensing and other barriers continue to prevent many college-educated immigrants from working at their skill level. This underutilization is particularly acute for Black and Latino college graduates, even after controlling for sociodemographic and educational characteristics. This report offers a U.S. and state profile of underemployment, and possible policy remedies.

Policy Briefs

April 2021

The Integration of Immigrant Health Professionals: Looking beyond the COVID-19 Crisis

The U.S. health-care workforce came under incredible strain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Longer-term trends—including the aging and increasing diversity of the U.S. population, and health-care worker retirement—are also shaping demand for services and the supply of health workers. This issue brief looks at how the skills and expertise of underutilized immigrant and refugee health professionals in the United States can be better leveraged to meet these challenges.

Fact Sheets

April 2021

Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics

Commentaries

February 2021

A Deeper Look at the DREAMers Who Could Feature in the Legalization Debate in Congress

The DREAM Act of 2021 could represent one of the narrower legalization measures with better prospects for passage in a narrowly divided Congress. MPI's latest estimates of the DREAMers who could gain conditional and then permanent legal status are offered here, as are the share of DREAMers who feature in another ongoing conversation, around essential workers in the U.S. labor market overall as well as in the health-care sector.

Commentaries

December 2020

The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic

With the U.S. health-care system buckling under the resurgent COVID-19 outbreak, policymakers could undertake efforts to enable skilled, underemployed international health-care professionals to practice. This would both make the health system more resilient and flexible, as well as introduce critical language and cultural skills important during the contact-tracing and vaccine rollout phases of the pandemic response, as this commentary explores.

Fact Sheets

November 2020

An Early Readout on the Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis: Immigrant Women Have the Highest Unemployment

Working-age immigrant women in the United States entered the COVID-19-induced recession with unemployment rates similar to those of other groups. Yet they have been among the most affected by pandemic-related job losses. This fact sheet seeks to explain why they have been hit so hard by the coronavirus-induced recession.

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