Abstract
Since the mid-1960s, the US has witnessed a new wave of immigration that has been characterized by dramatic increases in both the number of new arrivals entering to be reunited with kin and the flows from Asian and Latin American countries. The new immigration has given rise to concern that the US is welcoming far too many people destined for the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. These fears run contrary to the traditional image of immigrants as being willing to make sacrifices via labor force commitment in order to prosper economically. To address these issues, this article studies immigrant-native differentials in the ability of secondary earners to lift families out of poverty. Using both descriptive and multivariate techniques to analyze the 1960, 1970 and 1980 US Census Public Use Samples, it compares immigrant and native families among four key race groups: white, black, Hispanic and Asian. It is shown that the ameliorative impact of secondary earners is greater for immigrant than native families; that this generalization holds for whites, blacks and Hispanics but not Asians; and that the immigrant advantage in ameliorative effects vis-a-vis natives declined noticeably over the 1960-1980 period for all but Asian families. -from Author
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 113-140 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | International Migration Review |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1991 |
Fingerprint
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Demography
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Cite this
}
Secondary earner strategies and family poverty : immigrant-native differentials, 1960-1980. / Jensen, Leif.
In: International Migration Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, 01.01.1991, p. 113-140.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Secondary earner strategies and family poverty
T2 - immigrant-native differentials, 1960-1980
AU - Jensen, Leif
PY - 1991/1/1
Y1 - 1991/1/1
N2 - Since the mid-1960s, the US has witnessed a new wave of immigration that has been characterized by dramatic increases in both the number of new arrivals entering to be reunited with kin and the flows from Asian and Latin American countries. The new immigration has given rise to concern that the US is welcoming far too many people destined for the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. These fears run contrary to the traditional image of immigrants as being willing to make sacrifices via labor force commitment in order to prosper economically. To address these issues, this article studies immigrant-native differentials in the ability of secondary earners to lift families out of poverty. Using both descriptive and multivariate techniques to analyze the 1960, 1970 and 1980 US Census Public Use Samples, it compares immigrant and native families among four key race groups: white, black, Hispanic and Asian. It is shown that the ameliorative impact of secondary earners is greater for immigrant than native families; that this generalization holds for whites, blacks and Hispanics but not Asians; and that the immigrant advantage in ameliorative effects vis-a-vis natives declined noticeably over the 1960-1980 period for all but Asian families. -from Author
AB - Since the mid-1960s, the US has witnessed a new wave of immigration that has been characterized by dramatic increases in both the number of new arrivals entering to be reunited with kin and the flows from Asian and Latin American countries. The new immigration has given rise to concern that the US is welcoming far too many people destined for the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. These fears run contrary to the traditional image of immigrants as being willing to make sacrifices via labor force commitment in order to prosper economically. To address these issues, this article studies immigrant-native differentials in the ability of secondary earners to lift families out of poverty. Using both descriptive and multivariate techniques to analyze the 1960, 1970 and 1980 US Census Public Use Samples, it compares immigrant and native families among four key race groups: white, black, Hispanic and Asian. It is shown that the ameliorative impact of secondary earners is greater for immigrant than native families; that this generalization holds for whites, blacks and Hispanics but not Asians; and that the immigrant advantage in ameliorative effects vis-a-vis natives declined noticeably over the 1960-1980 period for all but Asian families. -from Author
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0026359936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0026359936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2307/2546236
DO - 10.2307/2546236
M3 - Article
C2 - 12316773
AN - SCOPUS:0026359936
VL - 25
SP - 113
EP - 140
JO - International Migration Review
JF - International Migration Review
SN - 0197-9183
IS - 1
ER -