Study Finds Africans Among Best Educated US Immigrants

研究發現：美國的非洲移民教育程度極高

WASHINGTON — African immigrants in the United States are often stereotyped as having little or no schooling and struggling to find work. New research shows a different reality: African immigrants in the United States are college-educated and employed at about the same rates as the general population, and far more likely to be educated and working than their counterparts in Europe.

美國的非洲移民(immigrant)給人的刻板印象常常是只受過一點或從未接受學校教育(schooling)，而且總是掙扎著(struggle)找份工作餬口。新的研究結果顯示的實際情況卻有所不同：美國的非洲移民受過大學教育以及就業的比率和美國整體人口的比率大致相同；若與歐洲的非洲移民相比，美國的非洲移民則更有機會接受教育、找到工作。（美國和歐洲兩地的非洲移民概念上互為對應者(counterpart)。）

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Study Finds Africans Among Best Educated US Immigrants
VOA News
April 24, 2018 11:34 AM Salem Solomon (source)

Study Finds Africans Among Best Educated US Immigrants

研究發現：美國的非洲移民教育程度極高

April 24, 2018 11:34 AM

Salem Solomon

WASHINGTON —

African immigrants in the United States are often stereotyped as having little or no schooling and struggling to find work. New research shows a different reality: African immigrants in the United States are college-educated and employed at about the same rates as the general population, and far more likely to be educated and working than their counterparts in Europe.

The report, by the Pew Research Center, found 69 percent of sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States have some college education. That number is six percentage points higher than the level for native-born Americans, and far higher than levels in Europe.

In Britain, about half of sub-Saharan African immigrants have some college education. In France, the number is 30 percent. In Italy it is only 10 percent.

The Pew study, based on 2015 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Eurostat's Labor Force Survey, also found about 93 percent of African immigrants in the United States were employed, whereas in Europe employment figures ranged from 80 percent in Italy to 92 percent in the U.K. These numbers were roughly equal to the general population in each country.

Monica Anderson is a research associate at Pew and a co-author of the report. The research team wanted to compare demographics of African immigrants in the United States to their counterparts in Europe, Anderson told VOA by phone.

"What we found is that the sub-Saharan African immigrant population [in the U.S.] really stands out and that they are a very highly educated group," Anderson said.

"The majority of sub-Saharan African immigrants in all of these countries that we looked at are employed, and when you look at their employment compared to those who were actually — who were born in those specific countries — there's really not a lot of difference," she added.

Migration routes

In 2015, about 2.1 million African immigrants were living in the U.S., according to Pew. That number has more than doubled since 2000.

They came to the United States in different ways - to study, for employment opportunities, and through family reunification programs, the latter denounced by President Donald Trump as "chain migration."

Some Africans come to the United States as refugees and asylum seekers. In 2016, about 31,000 Africans were admitted into the United States as refugees, accounting for 37 percent of all admissions. About 19 percent of admissions came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where conflict has displaced nearly two million people in the past 18 months.

Thousands more come through the State Department's diversity visa lottery, which provides 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. In 2015, the last year for which data is available, African immigrants made up 46 percent of applicants invited to request immigrant visas.

Ease of reach

One explanation for the difference in education levels is that Europe is much easier to reach for low-income Africans who travel by boat or other means.

Since 2010, violence, turmoil and poverty have driven approximately 1.5 million Africans to leave the continent for the United States or Europe, and the numbers have grown each year, according to the United Nations.

Hundreds of thousands have risked crossing the Mediterranean Sea on rickety boats, hoping to make it to Italy or Greece.

In contrast, Africans coming to America often have the money to travel by plane, and the permission to enter the country once they arrive.

"It is also about proximity, and I think there are other studies and literature out there about how proximity might impact the kind of characteristics that different groups might have when they're migrating," Anderson said. "So those who have a lower socioeconomic status may not have the capabilities or have the resources to move to a distant country."

Better off?

Higher education and employment levels don't necessarily translate into a higher quality of life for African immigrants in the United States, based on previous research by Pew.

Despite high education and employment rates, black immigrants — including those from Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and South America — have a median household income that's about ,200 lower than the U.S. average, Pew researchers found.

Forty percent of black immigrants are homeowners, 24 percent less than the overall U.S. population, and 20 percent of black immigrants live below the poverty line, compared to 16 percent of the overall U.S. population.

These numbers suggest that, despite relatively high education and employment rates, African immigrants face challenges getting access to all the opportunities that other groups enjoy.

美國的非洲移民(immigrant)給人的刻板印象常常是只受過一點或從未接受學校教育(schooling)，而且總是掙扎著(struggle)找份工作餬口。新的研究結果顯示的實際情況卻有所不同：美國的非洲移民受過大學教育以及就業的比率和美國整體人口的比率大致相同；若與歐洲的非洲移民相比，美國的非洲移民則更有機會接受教育、找到工作。（美國和歐洲兩地的非洲移民概念上互為對應者(counterpart)。）

皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）的研究發現，從撒哈拉沙漠以南地區（sub-Saharan Africa）移居美國的非洲移民中，69% 的人受過大學教育，比土生土長的(native-born)美國人受大學教育的比率高出 6 個百分點(percentage point)，也比歐洲的非洲移民受大學教育的比率高出許多。

［編按：1. 皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）設立於 2004 年，是美國一間民調機構和智庫機構，針對影響美國及全球的議題、民意和人口統計等方面提供資料；2. 非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地區（sub-Saharan Africa）概念上與被視為阿拉伯世界（Arab world）的北部非洲（North Africa）相對。］

英國的非洲移民中，約達半數（50%）受過大學教育，法國為30%，義大利更僅有 10%。

此份皮尤研究中心的研究數據來自 2015年美國人口普查局（U.S. Census Bureau）及歐洲統計局（Eurostat）勞動力調查（Labor Force Survey）的資料。研究亦發現美國約有 93% 的非洲移民就業，然而歐洲則從義大利的 80 % 到英國的 92% 不等(range from . . . to . . .)。這些比率和各國總人口的就業比率大致(roughly)相等。

［編按：1. 美國人口普查局（U.S. Census Bureau，USCB／Bureau of the Census）隸屬美國商務部（U.S. Department of Commerce）的經濟和統計管理局（Economics and Statistics Administration，ESA），負責進行人口普查，並提供有關於美國國家、人民和經濟的統計數據；2. 歐洲統計局（Eurostat）隸屬歐洲聯盟（European Union），負責進行歐盟各項統計並提供統計數據。］

皮尤研究中心的研究專員(research associate)莫妮卡‧安德森（Monica Anderson）是這份研究報告的共同作者。她透過電話向《美國之音》（Voice of America，VOA）表示，研究團隊企圖比較美國和歐洲兩地非洲移民的人口統計資料(demographics)。

安德森說：「我們發現從撒哈拉沙漠以南地區來（美國）的非洲移民很特別(stand out)，他們多受過高等教育。」

她補充說道：「我們調查的這些國家中，來自撒哈拉以南地區的非洲移民大部分都有工作；如果仔細比較這幾個國家中土生土長的人和非洲移民的就業比率，兩者其實沒有太大的差別。」

遷移(migration)方法

根據皮尤研究中心的報告，2015 年約有 210 萬的非洲移民在美國生活。自 2000 年以來，移民人數已成長逾兩倍。

這些移民以不同方式來到美國：有的來求學，有的為了就業機會，有的透過家庭團聚政策（family reunification program）而來。後者被美國總統唐納‧川普（Donald Trump）譴責(denounce)為「連鎖移民」（chain migration，也稱「鍊式移民」）。

［編按：1. 家庭團聚政策（family reunification program）是指當家庭中的成員在外國居住，其他成員也可以遷入該國居住，以便讓整個家族團聚，為常見的移民方式之一；2. 連鎖移民（chain migration）指移民歸化為公民之後，自身的直系親屬關係能夠讓數名以上的親屬進入移民國，形成一種家族連鎖遷徙的現象。］

有些非洲人以難民(refugee)和政治庇護(asylum)尋求者的身分來到美國。2016 年約有 3 萬 1000 名的非洲人以難民的身分獲准進入美國，占(account for . . .)了所有核准入境者的 37%。另外有約 19 % 的核准入境者來自剛果民主共和國（Democratic Republic of the Congo）。過去的 18 個月之中，當地因為戰事(conflict)不斷，造成近 200 萬人流離失所(displace)。

此外，數千名非洲人透過美國國務院（State Department / U.S. Department of State）抽籤移民簽證（Diversity Immigrant Visa，DV，也稱「多元化移民簽證」）的方式來到美國。針對移民美國比率較低的國家，美國每年提供 5 萬個永久居留(resident)簽證的名額。2015 年能提出移民簽證的申請者中，非洲移民占46%。此數據是目前可取得的(available)最新資料。

［編按：1. 美國國務院（State Department / U.S. Department of State）是美國聯邦政府（Federal Government of the U.S. / U.S. Federal Government）的行政部門，專門負責外交事務，相當於其他各國的外交部；2. 抽籤移民簽證（Diversity Immigrant Visa，DV）除了稱為「多元化移民簽證」，又稱為「綠卡抽獎（Visa Lottery）」。］

鄰近歐洲：容易抵達

對以船隻或其他方式(means)遷移的低收入(low-income)非洲人來說，歐洲（較美國）容易抵達，這是兩地非洲移民的教育程度有所差異的解釋之一。

根據聯合國（United Nations，UN）的調查，自 2010 年以來，暴力、動亂(turmoil)和貧困已迫使大約(approximately) 150 萬的非洲人離開非洲前往美國或歐洲，而且每年的人數仍持續成長。

數十萬的(hundreds of thousands)非洲人乘著搖搖晃晃的(rickety)小船冒險橫越地中海（Mediterranean Sea），希望能夠成功(make it)抵達義大利（Italy）或希臘（Greece）。

對比之下(in contrast)，來美國的非洲人往往有錢可以搭飛機，而且一旦抵達便能獲准入境。

「這也和鄰近(proximity)程度有關。我認為有其他的研究和文獻探討了鄰近程度如何影響(impact)不同族群遷移時可能出現的特性。」安德森如此表示。「因此那些社經地位(socioeconomic status)較低的人可能沒有能力(capability)或資源搬遷到遙遠的國家。」

更好的(better off)生活？

皮尤研究中心先前的報告顯示，對美國的非洲移民來說，較高的教育程度與就業率未必能夠轉化成(translate into)較高的生活品質。

皮尤研究中心的研究員發現，非洲、加勒比地區（Caribbean）、中美洲（Central America）和南美洲（South America）等地的黑人移民儘管擁有高受教率和高就業率(employment rate)， 他們家庭收入(household income)的中位數(median)卻比美國平均值少了約 8200 美元

40% 的黑人移民擁有住房 ，比美國整體的比率少了 24%。再者，20% 的黑人移民生活於貧窮線(poverty line)以下，相比起來，美國整體的比率則為 16%。

［編按：貧窮線（poverty line）又稱為「貧困線」或「貧窮門檻（poverty threshold）」，指在一國家中要滿足生活標準所需的最低收入水平。已開發國家（developed country）所認定的標準往往會高於開發中國家（developing country）。］

這些數據顯示，儘管教育程度和就業率相對(relatively)較高，非洲移民要能和其他族群享有同等的機會仍有困難。