Date Posted: Thursday, August 24, 2006

Newswise (Aug. 23, 2006) — Wages and weekly earnings for Arab and Muslim men living in the United States fell 10 percent following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a new study shows.

In addition, the adverse affects of Sept. 11 on wages were greater in areas that reported high rates of hate crime related to religious, ethnic or country of origin bias, according to the upcoming study in the Journal of Human Resources.

"I was surprised," Robert Kaestner, study co-author and University of Illinois at Chicago professor of economics, said of the findings. "We see an immediate and significant connection between personal prejudice and economic harm."

Evidence also suggests the terrorists' attacks reduced intrastate migration, making Arab and Muslim men more reluctant to seek better opportunities in new destinations due to the uncertainty of their reception.

The study measured changes in wages of first- and second-generation immigrants from countries with predominantly Arab or Muslim populations between September 1997 and September 2005 and compared them to changes in wages of first- and second-generation immigrants with similar skills from other countries.

The study also showed that changes in industry of employment among Arab and Muslim American men accounted for some of the lower wages post-Sept. 11, Kaestner said. Hours worked were unaffected.

"After Sept. 11, Arab and Muslim Americans worked as often as they did before (the attacks), but they worked in different industries paying less on average than the industries they use to work in," he said.

There is some evidence that the adverse wage and earnings effects are dissipating, concluded the study; scheduled to appear in the journal's spring 2007 edition. Figures from the most recent period available (2005) indicated a rebound in wages and earnings for Arab and Muslim men.

The study is based on data for 4,300 Arab and Muslim men, ages 21-54, from 20 states where 85 percent of all Arab and Muslim Americans live. Data from the 2001 FBI annual hate crime report, the Current Population Survey for 1997-2005, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census 2003 were used.

Co-authors with Kaestner on the project were Neeraj Kaushal, assistant professor of social work, Columbia University; and Cordelia Reimers, professor of economics, Hunter College of the City of New York.

Researchers can obtain the data used in the article beginning January 2007. The Russell Sage foundation provided partial funding for the project.

For more information about UIC, visit http://www.uic.edu

Source: University of Illinois at Chicago

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