Written by Annabel Grace, Political Communications Intern at the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA).
When discussing refugees and the challenges they face on arrival in the UK, it can be easy to forget the impact of gender. Whether it be the exacerbation of the host country’s gender inequality culture, or the discrimination they faced at home having repercussions for the opportunities they can obtain on arrival, the intersection of their identity as women and as refugees creates a unique set of barriers to integration for refugee women across the UK.
One area in which this is particularly profound is the world of work. The employment rate for refugee women averages 45%, compared to 62% for refugee men. (Ganassin, et al., 2025) Employment has a significant impact on refugees’ chance of integration insofar as it provides a pathway to language acquisition, social connection and a sense of self-worth. (Al-Hamad, et al., 2024) There are multiple factors than can affect refugees’ chances of finding a job, with one of the main ones being the unequal burden of childcare placed on refugee women.
In refugee family households, research shows that it is common for refugee men to be the first to seek employment, while refugee women are expected to stay at home and look after the family. (Ganassin, et al., 2025) This can be explained by both gender norms in the host country but also gender norms in their country of origin. For example, the World Values Survey 2017-2020 found that a significantly higher number of respondents from countries where refugees generally originate agreed that men have more of a right to a job than women when jobs are scarce (Economist Impact, n.d.), demonstrating how gender norms of their origin country can follow them to their host country. Furthermore, childcare systems in host countries remain largely inaccessible for refugee women, meaning that refugee women are often left with no choice but to stay at home looking after their children, an issue exacerbated by the fact that many refugees lack personal connections in their host country who they can rely on. (Ganassin, et al., 2025).
Overall, refugee women often end up doing a disproportionate amount of family care, either because it is a cultural norm or simply because they have no other choice. In addition to childcare responsibilities, refugee women are often disproportionately disadvantaged by language barriers and the recognition of overseas qualifications. Though these issues are not unique to women, gender dynamics can often exacerbate the negative
consequences they have. If refugee women are already being pushed out of paid work by their childcare responsibilities, they are unlikely to then be willing to spend a disproportionate amount of time and money getting their qualifications validated nor are they likely to have time to go through the costly process of retraining. (Ganassin, et al., 2025) In addition, by being forced out of the labour market, refugee women then have less opportunities to interact with the host culture and learn the cultural norms or the language. This then creates a vicious cycle where not working deprives refugee women of the skills they need to access employment, therefore making them considered less employable, and subsequently making
them even less likely to find a job.
Unfortunately, given the recent proposed changes to the asylum system by the UK government, it looks like things are only going to get worse. Firstly, the visa bans on countries such as Afghanistan will have catastrophic consequences for many women, forcing them to stay in a country where they are actively persecuted and stripped of their rights, rather than allowing them to find sanctuary elsewhere. Furthermore, by extending the wait for residency to 20 years (Refugee Council, 2025) , this will plunge refugees into decades of insecurity and instability, with many living in fear that their status will be revoked should the government decide they no longer need protection. Finally, the existing ban on work for asylum seekers affects women in a myriad of ways, and this will only be exacerbated now working illegally is a reason for the Home Office to suspend asylum support. (Right to Remain, 2026). The ban on work has meant that many women have been forced into exploitative and dangerous situations, often having to turn to sex work to meet their basic needs. (Women for Refugee Women, 2026).
However, it is important to say that it does not have to stay this way. Many academics and grassroots organisations have made multiple suggestions as to how these barriers can be mitigated. For example, engaging in career development, language proficiency and digital literacy courses can significantly increase refugee women’s chances at integration. (Al-Hamad, et al., 2024) Organisations such as the ACAA have already done a lot of work in this
area, such as by running women’s empowerment sessions, but they cannot fix the problem alone. What is required is for policy makers to look at barriers to integration through an intersectional lens, acknowledging the unique challenges faced by refugee women. In a world designed by and for men, it is important we bring refugee women back to the forefront and ensure they are not forgotten.