The Living Arrangements of Children in Immigrant Families in the United States

Abstract

Little is known about the living arrangements of first‐ and second‐generation immigrant children. Using data from the Current Population Survey and a multivariate approach, I compared living arrangements of immigrant children to U.S.‐born white children with U.S.‐born parents. Findings show, except for foreign‐born black and some Hispanic children, that foreign‐born children lived with married parents more frequently than did U.S.‐born white children with U.S.‐born parents. However, by the third generation, a pattern emerged showing a decline in living with married parents among some immigrant children and a rise in living with single parents. The noticeable “downward assimilation” amon some second and third‐generation immigrant children fits a theory of segmented assimilation and is concerning because single‐parent families confront more social problems and sociodemographic risks.

Household diversity and dynamics of recent immigrants in Australia

“…Both studies also show diversity in living arrangements by country of origin and ethnicity. In the US study, children of Asian origin were the least likely to be living in single-parent families when compared with Mexican, other Hispanic, Black and White children (Brandon 2002). In the Canadian study, women from Southern European, Asian, Caribbean and Latin American countries were more likely to be living with kin than those from Western or Eastern European countries (Boyd 1991).…”

“…A study of immigrant children in the United States has found that they are more likely to live with married parents than with single parents compared with native-born children of native-born parents (Brandon 2002), while a study of the living arrangements of elderly foreign-born women in Canada shows that those who migrate at age 65 or later to reunite with family members are much more likely to live with family and less likely to live alone than those who migrated when they were young adults (Boyd 1991). Both studies also show diversity in living arrangements by country of origin and ethnicity.…”

Cosas de mujeres: familias monoparentales dominicanas en Barcelona y Nueva York

“…Autores como Peter David Brandon (2000) han sostenido, a través de la explotación de los datos del Current Population Survey, que los niños hispanos nacidos en el extranjero viven en mayor medida en hogares con ambos padres de lo que lo hacen los niños blancos nacidos en los EE.UU. Es decir, según su tesis, a medida que la población extranjera se asienta en la sociedad de recepción, aumenta la incidencia de la monoparentalidad entre estos colectivos, acomodándose las pautas familiares a las americanas.…”

Family Psychology of Immigrant Mexican and Mexican American Families

“…Brandon (2002) suggests that the social capital (e.g., social support) of some immigrant families erodes with the rate of changed residence and second-generation status. Crosnoe (2007) found that children from Mexican immigrant families tend to enter lower-status segments of U.S. society, where powerful socioeconomic disadvantages are combined with equally potent forces such as segregation and discrimination.…”