Despite a significant body of research pointing to a strong correlation between English language mastery and the economic success of refugees, the primary goal of refugee resettlement in the United States is for refugees to find employment within 6-8 months after arrival. Research also shows that English language proficiency takes 5-7 years for children and even longer for adults. Resettlement policies that focus on early employment and push refugees to accept low-paying jobs as a means to economic self-sufficiency may help with short-term employment but fail to address the long-term economic success of refugees. A recent Harvard University study supports what refugees in the US have known for a long time: focusing on employment as the primary objective of refugee resettlement at the expense of improving their long-term self-sufficiency will create further dependency on public programs and impede refugees’ access to economic and educational opportunities and limit full integration into society. Read more here:
HCPDS-working-paper_Kreisberg-et-al_Volume-21_No-7.pdf (harvard.edu)