Search

This report estimates the ten-year economic impacts to national GDP, tax revenue, and job creation of four immigrant regularization scenarios currently under consideration by the U.S. Congress.

A UCLA study published today found the exclusion of undocumented residents and their families from the $1,200 given to taxpayers a result of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of $10 billion in potential economic output.

SINCE AT LEAST THE 1990S, IMMIGRATION has been an emotional, hot-button issue, with pundits, elected officials, and think tanks like the Center for Immigration Studies mounting a growing anti-immigrant campaign. [...]

Day labor, the practice of searching for work in open-air, informal markets such as street corners or in formal temp agencies, has become an increasingly visible and important means of securing employment for a broad segment of immigrant, primarily male, displaced workers. Our understanding of day labor has been limited by regionally focused or city-based case studies, poorly constructed methodological approaches, inconsistent definitions, and little comparative research. This review discusses the emerging research on day labor, paying particular attention to the practice of day labor, including the market's origins, its contemporary development, and its hiring and wage practices. The review also provides a synopsis of informal, open-air and formal temp agency day labor practices, their spatial and organizational configurations, and an outline of the legal issues and public policies that structure, to a large degree, worker and employer relations in this industry. The review emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of contributions to the topic, including research by sociologists, anthropologists, and urban studies. Areas for future research are suggested. Key Words casual employment, contingent work, temporary work, nonstandard employment, INTRODUCTION The growth of nonstandard employment--part-time work, temp agencies, contract company employment, short-term and contingent work, and independent contracting--has transformed work in significant and profound ways (Kalleberg 2000, Smith 1997, [...]

Day labor, the industry in which workers, primarily men, seek temporary employment daily in open-air street markets or curb-side hiring sites, is a burgeoning market in the United States and a historically important, but declining industry in Japan. Using data from surveys of day laborers in Tokyo and Los Angeles, we analyze the unique characteristics of these two markets, comparing and contrasting the workers, the demand for their employment, and the spatial dimensions of this industry. We find that day laborers in Los Angeles are predominantly young, recent immigrants undertaking varied jobs. In contrast, day laborers in Tokyo are aging and mostly native Japanese displaced from Japan's slouching post-industrial economy Demand for day labor is equally contrasting. In Los Angeles, employers are more diversified, associated with a network of industries, and a consumer base that is broad and elastic. On the other hand, employers in Tokyo are overwhelmingly in construction and day laborers only cater to sub-cont ractors or middlemen. We speculate on the future of day labor in both cities., Introduction The continuing trend toward non-standard (see Kalleberg 2000; Smith 1997), temporary (see Dale and Bamford 1988; Belous 1989; Parker 1994), and informal employment (see Williams and Windebanck 1998; Portes [...]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare conditions in informal day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA to better understand the nature of worker vulnerabilities in this market, as well as the economic conditions that have contributed to the growth of day labor. The conclusion considers interventions that are underway in the two countries to improve conditions in day-labor markets. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on national surveys of day laborers in South Africa and the USA. A random sample of day laborers seeking work at informal hiring sites was undertaken in each country. The paper presents key findings, compares conditions in South Africa and the USA, and analyzes the relationship between economic change, labor-market dynamics, and worker vulnerability. Findings – Day-labor work is characterized by low pay, hazardous conditions on the job, and tremendous income insecurity. The day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA perform somewhat different functions within regional economies. Within South Africa, day labor can be regarded as a survival strategy. The growth of day labor in South Africa over the past decade is a manifestation of a formal labor market that is incapable of absorbing the structurally unemployed. Here, day labor is the employment of last resort, allowing workers to subsist on the fringes of the mainstream economy, but offering few pathways into the formal sector. In the USA, the day labor workforce is a largely undocumented-immigrant workforce. Workers seek work at informal hiring sites, maintaining a tenuous hold on jobs in the construction industry. There is evidence of some mobility into more stable and better paying employment. Practical implications – This paper documents the need for policies and programs to increase employment opportunities for day laborers and to better enforce labor standards in the informal economy. Originality/value – This paper summarizes findings from the only two national surveys of day laborers that have been conducted, and it compares for the first time the dynamic within growing day-labor markets in a developed- and emerging-market context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tabula Rasa is the property of Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of day labor worker centers in improving wages and working conditions of migrant casual workers in the USA. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports the results of a survey of worker center executive directors and senior staff, with particular attention to the ways in which centers maintain wage rates, allocate jobs, and redress grievances. Findings - Day labor worker centers are now an important presence in construction industry casual labor markets, performing HRM functions that benefit employers and workers. Research limitations/implications - The research was undertaken during a time when the US construction industry was enjoying an expansion. It is unclear what a macroeconomic downturn might mean for the effectiveness of worker centers to maintain labor standards. Practical implications - Conditions of instability and the violation of basic labor standards that occur in casual labor markets in the USA exist in other countries as well. Day labor worker centers might be a model intervention that could apply in other contexts. Originality/value - The paper presents results from the first national survey of day labor worker centers. It highlights the key activities of these emerging labor market institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Belief that transportation investment and operations have caused environmental damage in poor and minority communities to benefit the more affluent has prompted planning agencies to craft policies aimed at promoting environmental justice. Yet, we have only scattered evidence about the distribution of the costs and benefits derived from transportation policy, investment, and planning. This article creates a framework based in distributive justice for categorizing the existing research into cost-based and benefit-based claims of injustice. The authors go on to synthesize the cost-based research, which measures the distribution of pollution and hazards from transportation. From this survey, myriad research opportunities emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenal growth of the Spanish-language media in the United States points to an industry apparently healthy and getting stronger. Little, however, is known about the people who work in this industry or about the conditions in which they labor. This article analyzes the quality of the workers who participate in this burgeoning market, along with the industry's compensation structure and work hours, comparing them when possible with the conditions of their English-speaking counterparts. The authors' research indicates that the people who work on-air in this industry are highly educated, primarily naturalized citizens, yet their compensation and working conditions do not compare favorably with the English-speaking industry nor does it reflect a recognition of their important role as community assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The literature on entrepreneurship is primarily elitist, placing a large emphasis on rm size and location, innovation, proprietorship, and capital start-up. Missing from this body of literature are the temporary, low-wage self-employed. Using day labourers as a case study, I challenge the narrow and conceptually problematic de nitions of entrepreneurship while also countering popular perceptions of day labour. Drawing upon 481 randomly surveyed day labourers, ethnographic eld notes and in-depth interviews, I empirically show that a significant segment of the day labour population comprises an entrepreneurial class. I argue that day labourers t into the class of entrepreneurs known as survivalist entrepreneurs. Day labourers show characteristics of both value and disadvantaged survivalist entrepreneurs in their day-to-day search for employment. I conclude that a larger number of day labourers fall under the `disadvantaged' rubric of survivalist entrepreneurs, with the remainder undertaking this form of employment for reasons of choice and other attributes congruent with their labour market and personal values related to autonomy and exibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores how girls and boys facilitate the establishment of permanent settlement in Mexican immigrant households in the United States. Primary roles of Mexican children in immigrant households; Gender differences in participation in tasks requiring detailed explanations or greater responsibility; Age differences in taking the lead role in assisting and caring for siblings.

Focuses on the implications of immigration for poverty levels of Hispanic Americans. Analysis on the socioeconomic status of native-born and immigrant Hispanics; Account on the assimilation process of the Hispanic community; Influence of work skills and language on immigrant employment; List of key indicators of Hispanic socioeconomic status.