Rutgers report examines economic, employment conditions of NJ Latina immigrants

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The Rutgers Center for Women and Work is out with a new report this week revealing what life is like for Latinas—who represent 9% of New Jersey’s labor force, often filling many essential frontline roles and contributing to their local economies.

The report, titled The Role of Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers in the Employment and Economic Development of Latina Immigrants in New Jersey and compiled in partnership with the Latino Action Network Foundation, reveals many Latinas are struggling with low wages, non-existent benefits, no child care access, and virtually no time or money to do anything other than work and care for their family.

As part of compiling the report, Rutgers researchers interviewed 69 women who receive services at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers (HWRC) to learn more about the lived experiences of Latina immigrants in the Garden State, which ranks near the bottom of all states (49th) on pay equity for Latinas. On average, they earn 45 cents for every dollar a non-Hispanic white man earns. That total is just between $27,000 to $30,000 per year with part-time and seasonal workers earning even less.

The interviews and research found that many Latinas lack affordable housing, child care, health care, mental health services, paid time off, unemployment insurance, and other safety social nets.

“These women are doing the work that no one else wants to do, like cleaning homes and working in factories,” said Glenda Gracia-Rivera, a researcher in the Rutgers Center for Women and Work and lead author of the report. “The gender pay gap is well known, but this report goes beyond the numbers to demonstrate what life is really life for Latina immigrants in our state. The findings are frankly alarming.”

Among the notable economic and employment challenges the research found are:

• Finding Work: Because of limited professional network, these women often turn to family and friends (48%), their HWRC (20%), or temp agencies (18%) for job leads with many settling for low-wage positions as housecleaners or food service workers.
• Facing Barriers: The five biggest obstacles cited to finding a job that pays better were: English proficiency (46%), lack of child care access (30%), immigration status (14%), transportation issues (13%), and racism/discrimination (13%).
• Scraping By: Most of the women earn just enough money for basic expenses (83%), while often spreading themselves thinner by sending money to struggling families members in the U.S. or home country.
• Feeling Sick: Only 7% of the women interviewed have paid time off while most (64%) did not know about New Jersey’s earned sick leave and paid family leave policies.
• Always Working: Just four of the women interviewed have enough time for leisure activities and only two said they have the money to do anything fun, describing their lives as a treadmill of going to work, caring for family, and trying to make ends meet.
• Looking Ahead: 29% cited learning English as their top goal. Other goals they mentioned included: the hope of owning a home (28%), advancing their education (22%), finding a stable career (20%), and attaining legal status (19%).

Jesselly de la Cruz, executive director of the Latino Action Network Foundation, said the study highlights the important work Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers perform in Latino communities across the state. The authors noted that the HWRCs have seen a massive spike in demand over the last few years, jumping from 209 clients in 2016-17 to 3,309 in 2020-21.

Because of this reality, the authors recommend that the state expand its support of the center by: establishing new HWRCs in underserved communities; increasing funding to existing HWRCs to expand their menu of services; and empowering the organizations to provide mental health services to clients, many of whom come to New Jersey with trauma histories that are compounded by the challenges outlined in the report.

“The case for investing in New Jersey’s Latina women is clear. LANF looks forward to working with Gov. [Phil] Murphy and the Legislature on increasing investment in this critical program so that more New Jersey families can benefit from these community resources,” said de la Cruz.

The full report is available here.