From Generation to Generation The Health and Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families (1998) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Socioeconomic and Demographic Risk
2 Socioeconomic and Demographic Risk
Pages 40-58
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From page 40... ...
These analyses focused especially on information from the 1990 decennial census, because it is the most recent source of information on risk factors for children with origins in a large number of countries. These results were supplemented insofar as possible with comparative data using the 1910, 1960, and 1990 decennial censuses to examine historical changes in key risk factors following the decade of peak immigration to the United States (1901-1910)
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From page 41... ...
GENERAL CHILDHOOD RISK FACTORS For children generally, negative outcomes have been demonstrated to result not only from poverty, but also independently from low parental educational attainments and from living in families with only one parent or with a large number of siblings tin addition, among children not living with a parent, second generation children cannot be distinguished from third- and later-generation children. To ensure that estimates for various risk factors are maximally comparable across generations, children with no parent in the home are excluded from these estimates.
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From page 42... ...
For example, in 1990 the poverty rate for third- and later-generation white children was only 11 percent, and it was 2.5 to 4 times greater for third- and later-generation black, Hispanic, and American Indian children, at 40, 28, and 35 percent, respectively. 2For limitations of the current official poverty measure for current and historical comparisons see National Research Council (1995)
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From page 43... ...
. Moreover, children from these 12 countries whose family income was below the official poverty threshold in 1990 accounted for about 80 percent of all children in immigrant families who lived in poverty; these estimates may be low, given evidence that the decennial census underestimates the number of Mexican-origin children living in poverty.3 Of the 12 countries, 5 are the source of many officially recognized refugees (the former Soviet Union, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam)
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From page 44... ...
The lower poverty rates among third- and later-generation children from these four countries, compared with those from Mexico, may reflect differences in the socioeconomic status of their parents at the time they entered the United States rather than intergenerational socioeconomic assimilation. In 1990, children in immigrant families with origins in the Dominican Republic and Haiti had extremely high poverty rates, and they were nearly the same for the first and second generations (41 and 42 percent, respectively, for the Dominican Repub
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From page 45... ...
In the case of immigrants from Mexico, the pattern has remained the same for many generations a conclusion that is strikingly similar to that for U.S.-born black children. Since at least 1960, the intergenerational pattern for Mexican-origin children has been quite similar, with poverty rates for the first, second, and third and later generations of 58, 48, and 53 percent, respectively, about 2.5 to 3 times greater than the rate of 19 percent in 1960 for thirdand later-generation white children.4 This persistent pattern of very high poverty rates across generations suggests that ethnic stratification may have continuing power in determining the life chances of children of Mexican origin.
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From page 46... ...
Mexican-origin children constitute a large portion of the children in immigrant families with very low parental educational attainments (see Appendix Tables B-1A, B-1D, B-2A, and B-2D)
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From page 47... ...
, both historically and today. In 1990, with the exception of the former Soviet Union, children in immigrant families from the 12 countries with the highest poverty rates were somewhat to much more likely than third- and later-generation white children to have parents in the home who had not graduated from either high school or elementary school.
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From page 48... ...
It is not surprising that very low parental educational attainment characterizes children from the 12 countries of origin with very high poverty rates in 1990. Yet among these children, poverty and low parental educational attainment were not usually associated with especially lower rates of labor force participation by fathers and mothers.
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From page 49... ...
Thus, despite generally high proportions with fathers and mothers in the home who are in the labor force, very high poverty rates for children in immigrant families tend to occur among children from countries with very low parental educational attainment (no more than eight years of schooling) , fathers who cannot find full-time, year-round work, and parents who do not speak English well.
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From page 50... ...
In contrast, those from the Central American and Caribbean countries and from Cambodia were substantially more likely to live in one-parent families than third- and latergeneration white children. Historical Trends in One-Parent Families First-, second-, and third- and later-generation children were about equally likely, overall, to live in one-parent families in 1910 and in 1960, at 9 to 10 percent for children who lived with at least one parent.
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From page 51... ...
By 1990, among first- and second-generation children of Mexican origin and among third- and later-generation black and Hispanic children, the proportions living in large families had fallen to the range of 8 to 19 percent. Overcrowded Housing In 1990, only 12 percent of third- and later-generation children lived in overcrowded housing with more than one person per room, compared with 38 percent for the second generation and 62 percent for the first generation.
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From page 52... ...
T T of_ ~ ~ · ~ ~ · T T ~ ~ ~ · ~ · . Children from these 12 countries, or their parents, entered the United States as officially recognized refugees from Southeast Asia or the former Soviet Union in order to leave the dangerous conditions behind, fled warring countries in Central America, or
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From page 53... ...
The proportions of children exposed to important socioeconomic and demographic risk factors declined for most of these factors between the first and second generation for children from most of the 12 countries of origin with high child poverty rates. But data available for selected countries suggest that, for thirdand later-generation children from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and perhaps the Central American countries, the proportions living in poverty with parents who have not graduated from high school, in overcrowded housing conditions, and with only one parent remain quite high.
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From page 54... ...
In contrast, using as an outcome the percentage of children who do not speak English "exclusively or very well,"5 only in 13 countries of origin did the proportion of children in immigrant families reach the substantial proportion of 30 percent or more; 11 of these countries are among the 12 high-poverty countries (all but Haiti) ; the remaining two were China and Hong Kong (see Appendix Tables B-1E and B-2E)
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From page 55... ...
The Census Bureau defines a linguistically isolated household as one in which no person age 14 or older speaks English either "exclusively" or "very well." In 1990, 76 to 78 percent of children in immigrant families lived with a mother or a father who did not speak English at home. In households with both mother and father at home, the proportion was 70 percent.
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From page 56... ...
with child poverty rates at least as high as the rate for third- and later-generation white children (11 percent) , the proportion of children who were not citizens was 30 percent or more (see Appendix Table B-1E)
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From page 57... ...
The figure was 50 percent or more for 18 of the other 26 countries of origin with child poverty rates at least as high as the rate for third- and later-generation white children. Thus eligibility rules that exclude persons who are not citizens from public benefits and services may have important consequences for children from many different countries ~ .
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From page 58... ...
Summary Children in immigrant families may be subject to risk factors that grow out of their immigrant circumstances. Lack of English fluency can limit effective communication and functioning in health facilities, schools, and other settings that provide resources essential to children and their families.
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