Beyond Gateway Cities: Economic Restructuring and Poverty Among Mexican Immigrant Families and Children*

Abstract

We used data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples to document poverty rates among native-born and foreign-born Mexicans living in the southwest and in new regions where many Mexican families have resettled. Our analysis focused on how changing patterns of employment have altered the risk of poverty among Mexican families and children. We demonstrate that the Mexican population dispersed widely throughout the United States during the 1990s and that Mexican workers, especially immigrants, residing outside the southwest had much lower rates of poverty. Yet, a rapid influx of Mexican immigrants is putting strain on communities struggling to meet their needs. We offer suggestions for family practitioners serving Mexican newcomers, whose circumstances differ greatly from those of local populations.

Spatial Context and Poverty: Area-Level Effects and Micro-Level Effects on Household Poverty in the Texas Borderland & Lower Mississippi Delta: United States, 2006

“…Other factors that tend to increase the poverty rate of counties are the percent of families headed by females without a spouse present (Albrecht et al 2000;Goe and Rhea 2000;Lichter et al 2003;Lichter and McLaughlin 1995); a high proportion of the population aged 15 years of age and under (Cotter 2002;Rupasingha and Goetz 2007;Adelman and Jaret 1999); and the nonmetropolitan status of the county (Jensen et al 2003;Jensen and Tienda 1989;O'Hare 1988;Parisi et al 2003;Rank and Hirschl 1988;Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty 1993;Saenz and Thomas 1991). Factors associated with lower aggregate poverty rates include the percent of the population aged 25 years and over with at least a high-school diploma (Saenz 1997a;Adelman and Jaret 1999;Rupasingha and Goetz 2007;Crowley et al 2006); the net migration rate (Frey and Liaw 2005); and the percent of the population speaking English well (Davila et al 1993;Davila and Mora 2000;Crowly et al 2006). We use much of this literature to justify our use of aggregatelevel independent variables in our models of poverty.…”

Diverging fortunes? Economic well-being of Latinos and African Americans in new rural destinations

“…Qualitative case studies have highlighted the economic incentives underlying new Latino resettlement in rural destinations, and quantitative investigations have confirmed patterns of upward economic mobility among immigrant newcomers, at least up to the ''Great Recession'' of the late 2000s (Crowley et al, 2006;Koball et al, 2008a). The recent economic downturn, however, has called into question whether Latino immigrants have benefited from relocating to new destinations (Ellis et al, 2013;Kandel et al, 2011;Koball et al, 2008b).…”

Poverty in the Texas borderland and lower Mississippi Delta: A comparative analysis of differences by family type

“…Areas characterized by lower levels of educational attainment have consistently been shown to be home to higher poverty rates (Friedman and Lichter 1998;Rupasingha and Goetz 2007;Voss et al 2006). English-language fluency has also been identified as an important determinant of poverty among immigrant populations (Crowley, Lichter, and Qian 2006;Davila and Mora 2000;Davila, Bohara, and Saenz 1993). These variables point to the labor market disadvantages faced by populations with less marketable credentials and skills, as well as to the fact that many employers demand more educated workforces and seek locales where such workers exist.…”