Immigrants are a large and growing part of America's labor force. They accounted for half the growth in the U.S. workforce during the 1990s (Sum, Fogg, and Harrington 2002). In 2001, immigrants were 11 percent of the U.S. population, but 14 percent of all workers and 20 percent of low-wage workers in the U.S. economy (Capps, Fix et al. 2003). 1 Immigrants are overrepresented among all U.S. workers but especially among lower-paid workers. Many Americans work hard yet struggle to pay bills and provide for their children (Acs, Ross Phillips, and McKenzie 2000). Immigrant families are no exception, since such a high share of immigrant workers earns low wages. In 2001, one-quarter of all children living in low-income families had one or more foreign-born parents (Fix, Zimmermann, and Passel 2001). Almost half (47 percent) of all low-income immigrant families fit our definition of working families, where adults on average worked at least part-time (1,000 hours) in 2001. 2 For low-income native families, this rate is 40 percent. These figures suggest that unemployment, underemployment, and episodic employment are common for low-income families headed by both immigrants and natives. Despite similar levels of work effort among their parents, children of immigrants are substantially more likely than children with U.S.-born parents to be poor, have food-related problems, live in crowded housing, lack health insurance, and be in fair or poor health (Capps 2001; Reardon-Anderson, Capps, and Fix 2002).
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