Early Care and Education for Children in Immigrant Families

Abstract

A substantial and growing share of the population, immigrant children are more likely than children with native-born parents to face a variety of circumstances, such as low family income, low parental education, and language barriers that place them at risk of developmental delay and poor academic performance once they enter school. Lynn Karoly and Gabriella Gonzalez examine the current role of and future potential for early care and education (ECE) programs in promoting healthy development for immigrant children. Participation in center-based care and preschool programs has been shown to have substantial short-term benefits and may also lead to long-term gains as children go through school and enter adulthood. Yet, overall, immigrant children have lower rates of participation in nonparental care of any type, including center-based ECE programs, than their native counterparts. Much of the participation gap can be explained by just a few economic and sociodemographic factors, the authors find. To some extent, the factors that affect disadvantaged immigrant children resemble those of their similarly disadvantaged native counterparts. Affordability, availability, and access to ECE programs are structural barriers for many immigrant families, as they are for disadvantaged families more generally. Language barriers, bureaucratic complexity, and distrust of government programs, especially among undocumented immigrants, are unique challenges that may prevent some immigrant families from taking advantage of ECE programs, even when their children might qualify for subsidies. Cultural preferences for parental care at home can also be a barrier. Thus the authors suggest that policy makers follow a two-pronged approach for improving ECE participation rates among immigrant children. First, they note, federal and state ECE programs that target disadvantaged children in general are likely to benefit disadvantaged immigrant children as well. Making preschool attendance universal is one way to benefit all immigrant children. Second, participation gaps that stem from the unique obstacles facing immigrants, such as language barriers and informational gaps, can be addressed through the way publicly subsidized and private or nonprofit programs are structured.

Providing driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants in California improves traffic safety

“…Multiple authors argue that driver's licenses enable unauthorized immigrants to contribute to the local economy, with positive externalities for the community as a whole (9,30). For instance, workers with a car are found to have higher earnings (10), and driver's licenses give unauthorized immigrants access to a larger number of services, such as financial (8), health (31), or education services (32). Similarly, one study has found correlational evidence that immigrants without any form of identification have considerably less political knowledge than naturalized citizens or immigrants with a driver's license, other government picture identification, or green card (33).…”

Immigrant families’ use of early childcare: Predictors of care type

“…Studies show that children of immigrants traditionally have lower rates of nonparental care than do children of native parents (Karoly & Gonzalez, 2011), but knowledge concerning what drives such differences is limited. Few studies have carefully examined whether predictors of child care, especially for infants and toddlers, operate similarly in immigrant families as in native families.…”

“…With respect to infant and toddler ECE in particular, Urban Institute's National Survey of America's Families showed that children of immigrants under the age of three were 1.5 times more likely than children in native families to be cared for by their parents as opposed in ECE settings (Matthews & Ewen, 2006). Two recent studies using NHES data found that children of immigrants aged 0-2 were less likely to experience ECE compared to children with native parents even after controlling for basic sociodemographic factors (Greenberg & Kahn, 2011;Karoly & Gonzalez, 2011). Evidence regarding whether differences exist in immigrant families' use of specific types of early nonparental care is less clear.…”

Desarrollo del lenguaje y vulnerabilidad: ¿prejuicio o fundamento científico?

“…De igual manera lo reportado por Restrepo, et al (25) indica que la educación materna influye de mayor manera y más fuerte el desarrollo del lenguaje de los niños que su condición socioeconómica. Dicha influencia del nivel de educación materno está presente en los diferentes grupos raciales, étnicos o contextos rurales y urbanos (27).…”