Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants
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Highlights
U.S. workforce development and adult education systems too often are not meeting the needs of the nearly 11 million immigrant adults without a high school diploma and millions more with limited English.
- MPI analysis of 2015–19 Census data shows immigrants are 17 percent of U.S. adults but 40 percent of those without a high school diploma and 91 percent of adults with limited English proficiency.
- Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) performance measures emphasize credential attainment and rapid employment, creating incentives to screen out lower-skilled immigrants with limited English who most need services.
- Immigrants work at rates similar to U.S.-born adults, but 54 percent hold low-skilled jobs compared to 43 percent of U.S.-born workers, indicating that job quality rather than access is the core challenge.
- Reauthorizing WIOA offers a chance to revamp metrics and fund tailored services such as native-language literacy, vocational English, and credential recognition for internationally trained workers.
One in every six adults in the United States is an immigrant. These immigrant adults contribute to the vitality of local communities and economies across the country, but many also face barriers to integration and economic mobility, including limited English proficiency, varied levels of formal education, and persistent employment in low-wage jobs.
Adult skills programs within the nation’s workforce development and adult education systems offer services that are intended to address many of these challenges. Too often, however, the policies and program designs at the heart of these systems fail to account for important differences in the characteristics of the U.S.-born and immigrant adult populations, which can lead to programming that does not effectively and equitably meet the needs of immigrant adults.
Explore the Data
For more data on immigrant and U.S.-born adults in the United States, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia, check out the this data file.
This issue brief presents a profile of immigrant and U.S.-born adults, based on analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. It looks at characteristics such as age, parental status, race and ethnicity, educational attainment, English proficiency, and employment and income. The analysis identifies disparities between immigrant and U.S.-born adults in income, levels of formal education and employment type. It also discusses the implications of key data trends for adult skills programs.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 General Demographics
3 Educational Attainment
4 English Proficiency
5 Income and Workforce Characteristics
6 Discussion and Conclusion
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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