Publication: Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
Date
2020-06-19
ISSN
Published
2020-06-19
Author(s)
Schuettler, Kirsten
Caron, Laura
Abstract
Refugees and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) often struggle to integrate the labor market.
Even where they have the unrestricted right to work their
labor market outcomes lack behind those of other groups, at
least in the short- to medium-term. This literature review
brings together two strands of research to inform the design
of successful job interventions in this context: the
evidence on how forced displacement impacts those forcibly
displaced in their economic lives and the existing knowledge
on jobs interventions for refugees and IDPs. The specific
challenges that those forcibly displaced face on the labor
market are linked to the loss of assets and separation from
family members; the lack of skills required on the host
labor market; the impacts of forced displacement on their
physical and mental health and their economic behavior (in
terms of prospects and aspirations, risk-aversion and time
horizon); their legal situation; a lack of social networks
and discrimination as well as a high likelihood of excess
supply on the labor market at destination. Rigorous
quasi-experimental or experimental evidence on jobs
interventions for this target group is scarce and mainly
focused on high-income countries. A review of the existing
literature points to the importance of conducting thorough
assessments of the demand and supply side of the labor
market, including the legal situation of those forcibly
displaced and their perceptions and aspirations, before
designing intervention
Citation
“Schuettler, Kirsten; Caron, Laura. 2020. Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. Jobs Working Paper;No. 47. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33953 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”