Eastern European immigrants in the United States: A socio-demographic profile

Abstract

Immigration to the United States has experienced a phenomenal increase in the last decades. Following the dissolution of the "Iron Curtain" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Eastern Europeans have been free to emigrate. Since then, there has been an increase in their numbers in the U.S. This study is an analysis of the socio-demographic profile characterizing the immigration from Eastern Europe. It examines income levels and the poverty status for Eastern European immigrants (at the individual and family levels). The study also examines educational attainment and language proficiency. The findings show that, generally, the educational attainment of people coming form Eastern European (e.g., Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia) countries is high compared to those coming from other region (e.g., Mexico). The results also indicate that while some immigrants from Eastern Europe have relative low levels of poverty (e.g., Slovenia), the majority of them are confronted with high levels of economic strain.

International trade and foreign direct investment as growth stimulators in transition economies: does the impact of institutional factors matter?

“…Finally, it is believed that national entities and policy makers in these group of economies have been facilitated to improve their public-sector efficiency, as the staffing and assessment policies of their public sector were implemented with limited social and political reactions and constraints, taking advantage of the trend for the emigration of the local citizens to North America, Australia in the early 1990s and to more advanced economies of European Union particularly after 2004 when intra-EU migration rose substantially (Robila, 2007;Castro-Martín & Cortina, 2015). These surges were also noteworthy, paradoxically prior to the provisional limitations on labor movements for citizens of the new EU member states were applied (Eurostat, 2011).…”

“…It is evident that the majority of emigrants from Eastern European countries to old members of European Union had a relative medium level of education with an inclination to work in low-skilled jobs (Castro-Martín & Cortina, 2015). The only exception to that trend was the emigrants that were coming from the former Republic of Yugoslavia during or after the war as refugees had a better education level (Robila, 2007). Overall, these factors reflect the fact that most qualified labor force remained in their home countries and staffed both the public and private sector of their economies.…”

Labor Market Discrimination: Vietnamese Immigrants

“…Dsilva & Wyte (1998) find that Vietnamese refugees have a collectivistic, high-context culture which tends to avoid conflict. Robila (2007) finds that East Europeans are less likely to express their impulses, are taught in their culture to be more restrained, less socially assertive, and more humble and reserved. These differences might create challenges for these immigrants in U.S. society and U.S. labor markets.…”

Socioeconomic Adaptation of Post-1991 Eastern European Immigrants in the USA

“…Despite these changes, very little is known about the adaptation experiences of new Eastern European immigrants. A very few published articles and unpublished dissertations address certain aspects of the socioeconomic adaptation of post-1991 Eastern European immigrants but fail to provide a more complete picture of all important dimensions of their socioeconomic adaptation (Gold 2004;Morawska 2004;Robila 2007Robila , 2010Stodolska 2008). Most studies focus on adaptation experiences of adolescent immigrants who are refugees rather than adult nonrefugee immigrants (Belozersky and Borschevsky 2004;Birman et al 2002;Erdmans 1998;Gold 2004;Sanatullov 2004;Stodolska 2008;Tartakovsky 2012).…”