Korean immigration peaked in the mid-1980s, so that large cohorts of post-1965 immigrants are now approaching or entering retirement. As the baby boomer generation ages, few studies have examined how the lack of retirement savings and eldercare plans combined with cultural expectations such as filial piety may pose challenges for aging Korean immigrants and their adult children. This exploratory study examines attitudes and beliefs among 1.5 and 2nd generation Korean American adults regarding filial expectations and support for aging immigrant parents. In-depth interviews conducted with 124 adult children of immigrants show that their attitudes and beliefs around filial care were primarily motivated by feelings of gratitude and a strong sense of responsibility toward their parents. In addition, because Korean immigrant parents often face language and financial barriers, adult children were preparing themselves for future support of their parents' finances, health care and long-term care needs. Although both adult sons and daughters expressed a desire to care for their parents, adult daughters often discussed in detail their concerns and worries about future care of their parents. The findings of this paper illustrate how the intersections of gender, culture, and class inform attitudes and beliefs regarding aging and family support among Korean American families.
We draw on forty-six in-depth interviews with residents of Cerritos, California, a middle-class majority Asian suburb in Los Angeles County to explore the meaning of resurgent ethnicity and the ways in which a racialized identity informs residential preferences and choice among second-generation Asian Americans. Findings suggest that second-generation Asian Americans are choosing to reside in a place that offers cultural and class-based amenities that reflects a multiethnic sensibility. They also make residential choices based on family ties to strengthen and maintain intergenerational relations and share mutual social and economic resources. For second-generation Asian Americans, this racially dominant but ethnically diverse spatial settlement also provides a sense of belonging, signifying the continuing significance of race among middle-class, acculturated racial minority groups. As U.S. ethnic populations continue to grow and continue the trend of suburbanization and segregation, understanding such places and their implications will become increasingly important.
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