Study: US Missing out on $1.6 Billion From Female Refugees

If female refugees in the United States can overcome their 40% unemployment rate, they could generate up to $1.6 billion for the nation's GDP, a new study finds.

As reported by Newsweek, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) looked at the data and discovered some noteworthy figures when it comes to the amount of money being left on the table due to unemployment among this demographic.

Refugee women also could add as much as $1.4 trillion to the annual global GDP, the study found.

"This report, I think, illustrates the potential economic gain not only to the women themselves and their families, but to societies and economies at large through removing obstacles to productive work," economist Jeni Klugman, who led the study, told Newsweek.

Further, closing pay gaps and lowering unemployment among all refugees could generate as much as $2.5 trillion in the global GDP.

More than 70 million people around the world are displaced, according to the report, and 287,129 were living in the U.S. as of 2017.

The Trump administration has lowered the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. in recent years. The Pew Research Center concluded that Canada took in 28,000 refugees in 2018, 5,000 more than the U.S. did.

• The 9 Countries Accepting the Most Refugees – and Where They're Coming From
• Report: Administration Officials Float Plan to Slash Refugee Admissions