11 Concluding remarks This research was spurred by a concern for the living conditions amongst ex-Gazans, particularly those residing in Jerash camp. Conditions in Jerash camp are frequently cited and discussed in tandem with the particular status of ex-Gazans. Yet the extent to which exGazans’ status or other features of Jerash camp account for the poor conditions there remained under-explored, primarily because scant data existed with respect to the thousands of ex-Gazans residing in other camps. We therefore set out to explore whether exGazans in Jerash camp find themselves in such a dire situation because they are ex-Gazan or because they are ex-Gazan in Jerash camp specifically, i.e., whether the camp location and characteristics have an independent influence on determining residents’ socio-economic profile. Based on comprehensive survey data on Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, we compared ex-Gazans living in Jerash with ex-Gazans and other non-ex-Gaza Palestinian refugees living in the remaining 12 Palestinian refugee camps on a range of socio-economic indicators (Part 2) before turning to interview data from Jerash camp specifically (Part 3). Part 2 showed that ex-Gazans are consistently somewhat poorer and worse off than their citizen counterparts. Nevertheless, ex-Gazans living in Jerash camp suffer much worse conditions. With both larger households and lower wage income, they are significantly poorer than ex-Gazans and non-ex-Gaza refugees living in the other camps, with between 50% and over 250% higher poverty rates by both absolute and relative povertylines. Furthermore, their scarcer possession of durable assets and worse housing conditions suggest poverty is longer-term and entrenched. Although a higher proportion of exGazans in Jerash camp do receive transfer income, particularly from relatives and friends in Jordan, the smaller amounts received, although a lifeline for many families, are insufficient to compensate. Education protects against poverty for all camp refugees, leading on average to better employment with greater security and relatively improved living conditions. Interestingly, ex-Gazans in Jerash are more often enrolled in education than other ex-Gazans and outperform both ex-Gazans and non-ex-Gaza refugees in other camps when it comes to attaining university degrees. However, the positive impact of tertiary education on income is stronger for ex-Gazans and non-ex-Gazans living outside Jerash. Indeed, the educational attainment of ex-Gazans in Jerash camp does not appear to translate into a significant overall graduation from poverty. Given that ex-Gazans face the same restrictions throughout the country due to their non-citizen status, a key question is why ex-Gazans elsewhere cope so much better than ex-Gazans in Jerash — in terms of consistently higher income — and what, if any, particular barriers ex-Gazans in Jerash face. Access to and position within the local labour force, we believe, is key to understanding this difference. As shown, ex-Gazans in Jerash have somewhat lower labour force participation, with a greater reliance on temporary and irregular work. Thus, although their level of employment income is not that much lower than for other ex-Gazans and Palestinian camp refugees, the support burden of each employed adult in Jerash is higher, and temporary and intermittent work is more common, leading to a significantly lower per capita household income and more widespread poverty. Ex-Gazans in other camps also appear more able ‘Just getting by’ Ex-Gazans in Jerash and other refugee camps in Jordan 125