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The Changing Characteristics of Migrant Workers in Kuwait

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Nasra M. Shah  and
Sulayman S. Al-Qudsi
Nasra M. Shah
Affiliation:
(Shah) Sociology, Kuwait University; Ministry of Public Health, Kuwait
Sulayman S. Al-Qudsi
Affiliation:
(Al-Qudsi) Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
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Extract

Kuwait is one of the gulf countries that has imported large numbers of temporary migrant workers over the last decade or so. The import of such workers was necessitated by the ambitious development plans that were made possible by the oil bonanza after 1973. Even prior to this influx, however, more than 70 percent of the labor force in Kuwait consisted of foreign workers. As the country has gone through economic and other changes, its goals concerning the magnitude and structure of the migrant worker population have undergone substantial revisions. These changes are reflected in such indicators as number of migrant workers; occupational and industrial distribution of the labor force; demographic, ethnic, and educational characteristics of this labor force; and related wage levels. An examination of the above changes is the objective of the present study.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 31 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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