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A Better Life? Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Building Economic Security

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Abstract

Immigrants comprise 13 % of the US population. Immigrant families often come to the US for a better life and to improve their economic opportunities; however, immigrants experience higher levels of poverty than their native-born counterparts. Despite their financial concerns, less than half of eligible immigrant families in the US receive government assistance. Framed within ecocultural theory, qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with 40 low-income immigrant mothers from Latin America and Africa, were conducted to examine the economic experiences of immigrant families, including the process of building economic security. The findings indicate that mothers’ development of economic security was shaped by their ecocultural context including the intersection of: accessibility of government programs, family situations, and unique needs of their families.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Megan Curran for her review and comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University, 1102 Thompson Hall, MSN 4C2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Colleen K. Vesely

  2. College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Rachael D. Goodman, Marriam Ewaida & Katina B. Kearney

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  1. Colleen K. Vesely
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  2. Rachael D. Goodman
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  4. Katina B. Kearney
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Correspondence to Colleen K. Vesely.

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The data used in this paper were collected with support from the Child Care Scholars Dissertation Grant Program in the Office of Child Care within the US Department of Health and Human Services.

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Vesely, C.K., Goodman, R.D., Ewaida, M. et al. A Better Life? Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences Building Economic Security. J Fam Econ Iss 36, 514–530 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9422-3

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