Three Decades of Temporary and Permanent Workers: An Inquiry into the New Paradigm, Its Determinants and Conquences

B. Lindsay Lowell, Georgetown University
Mary E. Breeding, Georgetown University

Temporary work programs (TWPs) have become as important as the admission of legal permanent resident (LPR). The US admits annually as many TWPs as it does LPRs who are employed. We have collected a first-ever database on detailed TWP inflows and distinguish individuals from the more-typically cited multicount, admissions data. We describe the growth in TWPs since the 1970s and compare TWP flows against permanent flows. We explore the national profile of TWPs compared with the permanent inflows and the queuing effect of TWPs adjusting into the permanent inflow. Finally, we conduct a pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis of the data to examine differences in the determinants of TWPs, as well as a latent variable analysis of their relationship. Is there any basis for the claim that temporary programs can effectively “substitute” for LPRs? We inquire into the political (H focus) and assimilative (probationay) ramifications of the new paradigm.