Analysis of Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of African Immigrants in USA
Monica Nyamwange

Abstract
African immigrants are among the fastest growing groups of U.S. immigrants comprising 4% of the total foreign born population The paper outlines the reasons for coming to the unites States, modes of entry and legal statuses, as well as geographic patterns of settlements in the United States. The bulk of the paper is dedicated to the examination of demographic as well as socioeconomic characteristics of African born immigrants in the United States in comparison with the U.S. native born and other immigrants overall. Specifically, attention is paid to age, gender, English Proficiency, income, labor force participation and poverty rates. An attempt is made to explain the paradox of high education achievement and labor force participation among African immigrants (versus U.S. native born and immigrants overall) yet greater levels of poverty and lower incomes.

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