Business cycles and immigration: Latino female workers in United States through the Great Recession

Abstract

Despite having affected the male population more than the female population, the first global crisis of the 21st century provides a useful scenario for analyzing the complex relationship between economic cycles, the female labor force and immigration. Quantitative methodologies were used to evaluate the impact of the Great Recession on the Latina immigrant labor force in the United States, contrasting its situation with that of US-born female workers and other female immigrants at three points in time: 2007 (precrisis), 2009 (recession), and 2014 (recovery). The results highlight both the predominantly countercyclical (buffering) nature of female immigrant workers (particularly Latinas) throughout the economic cycle - mediated by the gender segregation of labor markets - and the lasting negative effects of the deep recession on their employment opportunities several years after the start of the economic recovery.