The Labor Force Trajectories of Immigrant Women: Intersecting Personal Characteristics and Migration Dynamics

While research on immigrant women’s labor market incorporation has increased in recent years, systematic comparisons of employment trajectories by national origin and over time remain rare, and the literature remains dominated by the male experience. Especially lacking are studies that take both individual factors and larger migration dynamics into account, limiting our understanding of women’s contributions to the economic well-being of immigrant families, and of the process of incorporation more broadly. Using U.S. Census and ACS data from 1990 to 2016, we construct synthetic cohorts by national origin, period, and age at arrival to track their labor force participation over time. We construct a typology of national origin trajectories and then model them adjusting for individual characteristics and gendered dynamics of migration flows, namely the sex ratio, share of women arriving single, and share of men arriving with a college education. Results indicate that immigrant women tend to gradually join the workforce over time, though with significant variation in starting levels and growth rates. Cohorts from Mexico, Central America, and South America exhibited a delayed pattern of incorporation (though Mexican women start at lower levels than others), while women from India, Korea and other Asian countries followed an accelerated incorporation trajectory from very low starting rates. Those from Europe, Africa, China, Vietnam, and Canada showed gradual incorporation while Filipinas and Caribbeans exhibited continuous, intensive employment. We show that historically produced gendered dynamics of migration flows explain a substantial share of national origin variation in workforce incorporation

Diversity and Its Discontents: A Review of Behind the White Picket Fence

Chenoa Flippen reviews Sarah Mayorga-Gallo's Behind the White Picket Fence: Power and Privilege in a Multiethnic Neighborhood (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014)

Community attachment, neighborhood context, and sex worker use among Hispanic migrants in Durham, North Carolina, USA

We build on social disorganization theory to formulate and test a hierarchical model of sex worker use among male Hispanic immigrants in the Durham, North Carolina area. The study considers both individual and neighborhood level dimensions of community organization as central factors affecting immigrants' exposure to sexual risks. At the individual level, we find support for the systemic model of community attachment, as time in the U.S. affects sex worker use, although the pattern is non-linear. At the neighborhood level we find that structural social disorganization, external social disorganization (or broken windows), and collective efficacy all correlate with sex worker use in the expected direction. In addition, we extend power-control theory to the community level to show that neighborhood gender imbalances are a central dimension of migrant men's heightened sex worker use, a factor not systematically considered in research on neighborhoods and health. When taken together, collective efficacy and gender imbalances stand out as central mediators between other dimensions of social disorder and sex worker use. Overall, we stress the importance of considering the neighborhood context of reception as an added dimension for understanding and improving immigrant health.U.S. STD/HIV risks Migration Social disorganization Neighborhoods and health Hispanics USA Gender

The Labor Force Trajectories of Immigrant Women in the United States: Intersecting Individual and Gendered Cohort Characteristics

Research on immigrant women's labor market incorporation has increased in recent years, yet systematic comparisons of employment trajectories by national origin and over time remain rare. Likewise, the literature on immigrant assimilation remains dominated by attention to men, with little focus on larger gendered migration dynamics. Using US Census and ACS data from 1990 to 2016, we construct synthetic migration cohorts by national/regional origin, period, and age at arrival to track immigrant women's labor force participation (LFP) over time. We propose and model a typology of workforce incorporation, adjusting for individual characteristics and gendered migration-cohort characteristics (i.e., the gender ratio, share of women arriving single, and share of men arriving with a college education). Results indicate that immigrant women gradually join the workforce over time, though with significant variation in starting employment levels and growth rates. We classify the observed patterns into a five-group typology: Gradual incorporation (cohorts from Europe, Canada, Africa, China, and Vietnam), delayed incorporation with low entry LFP level (cohorts from Mexico), delayed incorporation with moderate entry LFP level (cohorts from Central America, South America, and Cuba), accelerated incorporation (cohorts from India, Korea, and other Asian countries), and continuous intensive employment (cohorts from the Philippines and the Caribbean). We show that gendered migration cohort characteristics explain a substantial share of national/regional origin variation in immigrant women's workforce participation, highlighting the importance of broader cultural and structural forces shaping gendered patterns of immigrant labor market incorporation

A Gendered Context of Reception: Understanding Immigrant Women’s Workforce Incorporation in the United States

The context of reception is an important theoretical and empirical tool for understanding immigrant assimilation. Yet, this concept has been narrowly defined as a gender-neutral socioeconomic and political context that immigrants encounter at arrival. We argue that this concept can be useful for understanding immigrant women’s workforce assimilation, but that it needs to be expanded to incorporate the gender-specific characteristics of immigrant flows at arrival. Gendered cohort dimensions such as the sex ratio, share of women migrating unmarried, and share of men and women who are highly educated shape immigrant women’s employment trajectories and contribute to national origin differences in labor force participation. We leverage a synthetic double-cohort approach using U.S. Census data from 1990 to 2019 to track immigrants’ work trajectories over years since migration. We propose a five-group typology to simplify the analysis of national origin variation in patterns of workforce incorporation. We assess the impact of individual socioeconomic and gendered cohort characteristics at different points in the adaptation process (arrival, medium, and long term) to demonstrate the utility of a gendered context of reception for understanding national origin variation in immigrant’s modes of incorporation

Use of Commercial Sex Workers Among Hispanic Migrants in North Carolina: Implications for the Spread of HIV

Rates of HIV and AIDS have risen among U.S. Hispanics and in migrant-sending regions of Mexico and Central America, pointing to a link between migration and HIV. However, little is known about male migrants' sexual risk behaviors, such as the use of commercial sex workers. The prevalence and frequency of commercial sex worker use was examined among 442 randomly selected Hispanic migrants in Durham, North Carolina. Logistic and Poisson regression techniques were used to model predictors of commercial sex worker use, and descriptive data on condom use with commercial sex workers were examined. Twenty-eight percent of respondents reported using the services of a commercial sex worker during the previous year; rates reached 46% among single men and 40% among married men living apart from their wives. Men with spouses in Durham were less likely than other men to use commercial sex workers (odds ratio, 0.1). Among men who used commercial sex workers, the frequency of visits declined with greater education (incidence rate ratio, 0.9) and increased with hourly wage (1.1). Frequency and use declined with years of residence, although the results were of borderline significance. Reported rates of condom use with commercial sex workers were high, but were likely to fall if familiarity with a commercial sex worker increased. Commercial sex workers represent an important potential source of HIV infection. Educational and behavioral interventions that take into account social context and target the most vulnerable migrants are needed to help migrants and their partners avoid HIV infection