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Are married immigrant women secondary workers?

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  • Ana Ferrer

    (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Abstract

What is the role of married women in immigrant households? Their contribution to the labor market has traditionally been considered of secondary importance and studied in the framework of temporary attachment to the labor force to support the household around the time of arrival. But this role has changed. Evidence from major immigrant-receiving countries suggests that married immigrant women make labor supply decisions similar to those recently observed for native-born married women, who are guided by their own opportunities in the labor market rather than by their spouses' employment trajectories.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Ferrer, 2015. "Are married immigrant women secondary workers?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 119-119, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2015:n:119
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher Worswick, 1996. "Immigrant Families in the Canadian Labour Market," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 22(4), pages 378-396, December.
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    10. Ferrer, Ana M. & Picot, Garnett & Riddell, W. Craig, 2012. "New Directions in Immigration Policy: Canada’s Evolving Approach to Immigration Selection," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2012-34, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 30 Nov 2012.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    skilled immigrants; skill assimilation; labor market outcomes of immigrant women;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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