Underworked and underemployed immigrants face health problems

A new Canadian study which would be published in the Ethnicity and Health journal has revealed that unemployment and underemployment can be very damaging to highly skilled, educated immigrants’ mental and physical comfort.

A new Canadian study which would be published in the Ethnicity and Health journal has revealed that unemployment and underemployment can be very damaging to highly skilled, educated immigrants’ mental and physical comfort.

The effects become even more by the hassle of migration and the process of settlement in a new country, and in a new culture. The condition becomes worse when these people are separated from their family in some cases who stay at home.

A co-author of the study, Kathi Wilson, University of Toronto health geographer, said that immigrants have very little social support from members of family and they do not have strong social networks in Canada that can assist them rise above their employment circumstances. She said that such period when immigrants are unemployed or enderemployed are very common and is not that common among non-immigrants, which ultimately leads to health problems among immigrants.

The qualitative survey, which is based on thorough surveys at the Mississauga’s Dixie Bloor Neighborhood Centre, found that income loss, skills related to employment and social status resulted in stress, unhappiness, depression, tension, worry, frustration and irritation among immigrants.

Wilson, who co-authored the report, said that in case of skilled immigrants in Canada, identity is related to the status of an immigrant as a professional. Wilson said that things which were detrimental in the identity of a person had been compromised due to their employment status which had negative impact on the metal health.

Immigrants who ended up in survival jobs were into physical pain and injuries as they were not used to manual labor and other physically tiring works.