Asian Immigrant Women in the U.S. Labor Market: A Comparison of Migrant and Nonmigrant Koreans

Taek-Jin Shin, University of California, Berkeley

This paper examines the determinants of labor force participation for Asian immigrant women in the United States by comparing the Korean immigrant women with other Asian immigrant women in the United States and also with the nonmigrant women in South Korea. The results from the analysis using the U.S. and South Korean data sets show that migrant and nonmigrant women have different patterns of labor force participation, suggesting that the social, economic, and contextual factors that surround a woman have a significant influence on her decision to work in the labor market. The similarities and differences among Asian immigrant groups highlight the influence of the U.S. institutions and the adaptation of each immigrant group. Finally, the results show that factors unique to the immigrant’s experiences, such as citizenship, length of stay in the U.S., and ethnic community, explain a great part of the immigrant women’s labor force participation.