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An Ethnographic Description of Latino Immigration in Rural Arkansas: Intergroup Relations and Utilization of Healthcare Services

Recent growth of Latino immigration in the rural south resulted in a 337 percent increase in the Latino population in Arkansas from 1990 to 2000 (Broadwater 2001; U.S. Census Bureau 2000). The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of both the established non-Hispanic resident and new immigrant Latino regarding the accommodation processes occurring and the inherent changes both groups experience. This paper describes a rural/urban comparison of two issues: 1) intergroup relations between new Latino immigrants and the established non-Hispanic resident population, and 2) utilization of healthcare services by Latinos. Methods for this study included key informant interviews, participant observation, and systematic open-ended interviews using free-listing questions with residents in three rural Arkansas communities. Although many of the intergroup relations in rural Arkansas were similar to published findings of urban communities, there were also signs of transformations in schools and business development. Access barriers to physicians and hospital services may be mediated more often in rural communities as compared to urban Latino experiences

Effects of Welfare Participation on Marriage

Despite interest in the potential of the welfare system as a tool to affect marriage behaviors among low-income women, little is known about how welfare participation affects decisions to marry. We employ an event history approach to examine transitions to marriage over a five-year period among mothers who have had a non-marital birth. We find that welfare participation under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) reduces the likelihood of transitioning to marriage (hazard ratio is .67, p

The Role of Welfare in New Parents’ Lives

Welfare caseloads have declined substantially since the landmark PRWORA legislation of 1996, which was designed to shift the burden of supporting needy families from government to families themselves. These caseload declines have been well documented, and characteristics of recipients following the implementation of PRWORA can be gleaned from administrative and agency records. Less readily available is documentation of recent rates of welfare dependency for specific population subgroups. Mothers giving birth in the aftermath of the 1996 legislation are of particular interest since they are more likely than other potential recipients to meet work requirements and hit time limits before their children are in school.