Waiting On Washington: Central American Workers in the Nation's Capital

5. Working Women and Men in Washington's Labor Market

five Working Women and Men in Washington's Labor Market Early on in their sojourn in the United States, Central American women are forced to come to grips with the realization that they will confront more obstructions in the labor market than their husbands, brothers, and partners do. The vignette related earlier about Marina Suarez, the social service agency counselor who earns half what her brother does, in spite of having six more years of education and a college degree, hinted at the gaping disparity in working conditions, wage scales, and employment options for women versus men in U.S. labor markets. Marina's career trajectory and those of other Central American workers profiled here reveal many layers of differences between immigrant men and women in their labor market insertion patterns , leverage in negotiating wages and work conditions, and employment mobility in the United States. As the Central American migration process evolved from an employer-induced to a family-based migration, the women who forged ahead to the Washington area eventually found their wages lagging far behind male compatriots who arrived after them. Debates about why some immigrants fare better than others in U.S. labor markets generally revolve around whether personal 94 Chapter Five background characteristics or structural factors (e.g., the sector of the economy in which they work) determine how much immigrants earn and how much occupational mobility they may expect. Human capital theory posits that personal characteristics of immigrants-that is, education and skill level, work experience and general social skills-account for most income differences . If this were the case then immigrants' earnings should increase with U.S. labor market experience, higher levels of education , and English-speaking ability'! Historical-structural theory challenges the supposition that with sufficient time in the United States immigrants will eventually fare as well as nativeborn groups and that individual characteristics of immigrants are the main determinants of earnings.2 It predicts that the structure of the labor market and the sector in which immigrants work will have greater impact on wages and that income differences will persist despite the influence of individual skills and traits. Workers in the primary labor market (i.e., those who work in larger mainstream or multinational companies) should receive higher wages than those in the secondary market (generally associated with smaller private businesses). While voluminous research has focused on the economic performance of immigrant men, few studies have thoughtfully assessed women's labor market experiences or compared the earnings of immigrant women with those of immigrant men. One study found that education level had the greatest influence on occupational status for Hispanic women, followed by structural characteristics such as the sector of employment and ethnic composition of the labor market. The data and life histories related in this book reinforce the importance of highlighting gender factors in the labor market performance of immigrants, especially in the protracted debate over immigrant economic success. Gender is as critical as structural or personal characteristics in determining how immigrants are incorporated into U.S. labor markets and how well they perform over time. The stories of Rhina Garcia and of Rosa Lopez and her various family mem- Working Women and Men in Washington 95 bers illustrate how gender factors in conjunction with structural barriers in the labor market pose obstacles to women's occupational success and render them incapable of fully capitalizing on their personal (human capital) advantages. Rhina Garcia was the young Guatemalan nurse introduced in Chapter Three who resigned herself to lower-status work as a housekeeper for a diplomatic family in order to have the opportunity to live and work in the United States. After surviving two short but unpleasant experiences caring for the children of professional Washington families, she made one final attempt to locate acceptable employment. With a third foray into the realm of live-in domestic workers, Rhina was satisfied with her German employers, who paid her $6,000 per annum-twice what the first family had paid-and she remained with the family for three years. But Rhina was ambitious, intelligent, and in possession of a bachelor's degree in nursing, and she enrolled in English-language classes at a local school to improve her marketability . Then she learned that cleaning positions were available at one ofWashington's downtown hotels and made the leap from live-in to day work in domestic service. The job paid her a salary...