IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v36y2015i4p514-530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Better Life? Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Building Economic Security

Author

Listed:
  • Colleen Vesely
  • Rachael Goodman
  • Marriam Ewaida
  • Katina Kearney

Abstract

Immigrants comprise 13 % of the US population. Immigrant families often come to the US for a better life and to improve their economic opportunities; however, immigrants experience higher levels of poverty than their native-born counterparts. Despite their financial concerns, less than half of eligible immigrant families in the US receive government assistance. Framed within ecocultural theory, qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with 40 low-income immigrant mothers from Latin America and Africa, were conducted to examine the economic experiences of immigrant families, including the process of building economic security. The findings indicate that mothers’ development of economic security was shaped by their ecocultural context including the intersection of: accessibility of government programs, family situations, and unique needs of their families. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Colleen Vesely & Rachael Goodman & Marriam Ewaida & Katina Kearney, 2015. "A Better Life? Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Building Economic Security," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 514-530, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:36:y:2015:i:4:p:514-530
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-014-9422-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10834-014-9422-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-014-9422-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angela Fontes, 2011. "Differences in the Likelihood of Ownership of Retirement Saving Assets by the Foreign and Native-Born," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 612-624, December.
    2. Cathy Yang Liu, 2009. "Ethnic enclave residence, employment, and commuting of Latino workers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 600-625.
    3. Vericker, Tracy & Fortuny, Karina & Finegold, Kenneth & Ozdemir, Sevgi Bayram, 2010. "Effects of Immigration on WIC and NSLP Caseloads," Contractor and Cooperator Reports 292083, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Lowe, Edward D. & Weisner, Thomas S., 2004. "`You have to push it--who's gonna raise your kids?': situating child care and child care subsidy use in the daily routines of lower income families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 143-171, February.
    5. Yoshie Sano & Steven Garasky & Kimberly Greder & Christine Cook & Dawn Browder, 2011. "Understanding Food Insecurity Among Latino Immigrant Families in Rural America," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 111-123, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jordan A. Arellanes & Ruben P. Viramontez Anguiano & Brenda J. Lohman, 2017. "The Desire to Thrive: Families Overcoming Economic Hardships Through Educational Aspirations," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 338-353, September.
    2. Juyoung Jang & Sharon M. Danes, 2016. "Social Capital Accessibility of Intermarrieds," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 553-565, December.
    3. Himmet Karadal & Belal Hamed Taher Shneikat & A. Mohammad Abubakar & Omar Khalid Bhatti, 2021. "Immigrant Entrepreneurship: the Case of Turkish Entrepreneurs in the United States," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(4), pages 1574-1593, December.
    4. Terri Friedline & Zibei Chen & So’Phelia Morrow, 2021. "Families’ Financial Stress & Well-Being: The Importance of the Economy and Economic Environments," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 34-51, July.
    5. Stig S. Gezelius, 2017. "Considerate Exchange: Exploring Social Exchange on Family Farms," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 18-32, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johnson, Anna D. & Padilla, Christina M. & Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth, 2017. "Predictors of public early care and education use among children of low-income immigrants," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 24-36.
    2. Elizabeth E. Davis & Caroline Carlin & Caroline Krafft & Nicole D. Forry, 2018. "Do Child Care Subsidies Increase Employment Among Low-Income Parents?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 662-682, December.
    3. Yunhee Chang & Swarn Chatterjee & Jinhee Kim, 2014. "Household Finance and Food Insecurity," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 499-515, December.
    4. Lucía Rey-Ares & Sara Fernández-López & Milagros Vivel-Búa, 2018. "The Influence of Social Models on Retirement Savings: Evidence for European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 247-268, February.
    5. Rickertsen, K. & Gustavsen, G.W. & Nayga, R.M. & Dong, D., 2018. "Acculturation in Food Choices among U.S. Immigrants," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277041, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Grinstein-Weiss, Michal & Wagner, Kristen & Ssewamala, Fred M., 2006. "Saving and asset accumulation among low-income families with children in IDAs," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 193-211, February.
    7. Patti Fisher, 2013. "Is There Evidence of Loss Aversion in Saving Behaviors in Spain?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 41-51, March.
    8. Schmitt, Sara A. & Mihalec-Adkins, Brittany & Lipscomb, Shannon T. & Pratt, Megan E. & Horvath, Gregor, 2022. "Longitudinal relations among child care stability during the prekindergarten year and behavior problems," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Smith, Michael D. & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, 2016. "Food Security Among Hispanic Adults in the United States, 2011-2014," Economic Information Bulletin 262144, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Yoshie Sano & Sheila Mammen & Myah Houghten, 2021. "Well-Being and Stability among Low-income Families: A 10-Year Review of Research," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 107-117, July.
    11. Parish, Susan L. & Cloud, Jennifer M. & Huh, Jungwon & Henning, Ashley N., 2005. "Child care, disability, and family structure: Use and quality in a population-based sample of low-income preschool children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 905-919, August.
    12. Mary A Prenovost & Deborah C. Youngblood, 2010. "Traps, Pitfalls, and Unexpected Cliffs on the Path Out of Poverty," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(2), pages 53-82, May.
    13. Ha, Yoonsook & Miller, Daniel P., 2015. "Child care subsidies and employment outcomes of low-income families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 139-148.
    14. Dorabawila, Vajeera & DuMont, Kimberly & Mitchell-Herzfeld, Susan, 2012. "A method for estimating child poverty rates, projections for the short-term and the relationship between child poverty and child care subsidy receipt at the county level," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 466-473.
    15. K. Bruce Newbold & Darren M. Scott & Charles Burke, 2017. "Immigrant status and commute distance: an exploratory study based on the greater Golden Horseshoe," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 181-198, January.
    16. Pengyu Zhu, 2016. "Residential segregation and employment outcomes of rural migrant workers in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(8), pages 1635-1656, June.
    17. Hu, Bi Ying & Yang, Yi & Wu, Huiping & Song, Zhanmei & Neitzel, Jeniffer, 2018. "Structural and process predictors of Chinese parental satisfaction toward early childhood education services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 179-187.
    18. Cathy Yang Liu, 2012. "Intrametropolitan Opportunity Structure and the Self-Employment of Asian and Latino Immigrants," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 26(2), pages 178-192, May.
    19. Huiping Li & Harrison Campbell & Steven Fernandez, 2013. "Residential Segregation, Spatial Mismatch and Economic Growth across US Metropolitan Areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(13), pages 2642-2660, October.
    20. Wai Kai Hou & Li Liang & Clint Hougen & George A. Bonanno, 2021. "Regulatory Flexibility of Sustaining Daily Routines and Mental Health in Adaptation to Financial Strain: A Vignette Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-20, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:36:y:2015:i:4:p:514-530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.