Immigration and Its Impact: Figuring Out What the Truth Is
Does competition from foreign nurses drive down the wages of U.S.-born nurses? Associate Professor Neeraj Kaushal studied the question by examining changes in nursing wages, earnings, and employment, hoping to get a useful picture of whether immigration has had the impact that U.S. medical professionals seem to fear it has.
Whatever the results, Dr. Kaushal’s findings are likely to figure into the immigration debates and will have significant implications for the medical professions in the U.S.
A former journalist in India, Dr. Kaushal came to the U.S. to get a doctorate in economics. Besides being a member of the faculty at the School of Social Work, she is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Dr. Kaushal’s research, which has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, focuses on labor and health economics. Her areas of interest include immigration, welfare reform, and poverty and family expenditures, including the possible relationship between food stamps and obesity.
“I study issues that affect our clients. I investigate policies that have short-term or long-term consequences for low-income families,” she says. “A better understanding of the issues and policies I study can provide social work professionals with insights that can better inform their practice and the development of both programs and policies.”