A Framework for Understanding Poverty among Refugees in the United States

Authors

Mitra AhmadinejadFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Social Welfare

First Advisor's Name

Miriam Potocky

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Paul H. Stuart

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Shanna L. Burke

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Fatma Huffman

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Refugee, Poverty, Multidimensional poverty

Date of Defense

7-1-2020

Abstract

Through a set of three interconnected studies, this dissertation proposes a multidimensional poverty framework for adult refugees with a focus on their first five years in the United States. In the first study, refugee poverty was quantified using the 2016 Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR) dataset. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to calculate optimal cut-off points for income levels maximizing the sensitivity and specificity of the multidimensional poverty index utilized in the study. Guided by Ager and Strang’s (2008) refugee integration framework and using the 2016 ASR dataset, the second study explored factors associated with poverty. Using three data sources (a systematic review of the literature, qualitative data collected through interviews with key informants, and quantitative data from the 2016 ASR), the third study, further explored factors associated with poverty and proposed a multidimensional poverty framework.

Identifier

FIDC009003

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1717-3173

Recommended Citation

Ahmadinejad, Mitra, "A Framework for Understanding Poverty among Refugees in the United States" (2020). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4517.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4517