One hundred forty-five Vietnamese boat refugees were interviewed on arrival and after three years in Norway. The integration into the labor market was poor and the rate of unemployment was relatively high (16%). Eighty-two (63%) were members of the labor force, the rest being students (n=41) or housewives (n=6). Both loss of social status in Vietnam in 1975 and experiences of war trauma were independently related to labor force participation, when age, sex and mental health were controlled for. The risk of unemployment was increased among men and among refugees with low formal education and with no accompanying spouse. The results indicate that war trauma may have an impact on career choice and integration into the labor market which is independent of mental health. Future immigration policies should probably improve the refugees’ opportunities to establish intraethnic social networks to facilitate job finding and entrepreneurship.
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