Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century Family

A newly released by New America Media (Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century Family pdf) contains expected as well as some surprising findings.

Here's a summary:

Women & Citizenship
It is women who are changing the meaning of migration from economic to civic; women who are the key figures in determining whether or not the new immigrant populations will find themselves (both literally and figuratively) "at home" in the American city in a lasting way.

Holding the family together and success of children more important than economics
When asked to name the biggest challenge they faced as women immigrants in the United States, the majority did not cite economic difficulties. Rather, "helping my children achieve success" and "being able to hold my family together" were the top answers—underscoring the importance of family in understanding the motivations and aspirations of this new wave of women immigrants.

At a time when more than one-third of US families are single-parent households, 90 percent of women immigrants are raising children in intact marriages.

Facing discrimination -- especially Latin Americans
Many woman immigrants—Latin Americans (79%), Vietnamese (73%), Korean (70%), and Chinese (63%)—acknowledge speaking little or no English, while confronting anti-immigrant discrimination, lack of healthcare and low-paying employment well below the status of the professional work most did in their home countries.

82% of Latin American women found discrimination against immigrants to be a major problem for their family, compared to 17% for women from African or Arab countries, and only 13% for those from China. Still, 90% of the Latin American women said they want to become US citizens.

Lacking health insurance
Forty percent (40%) of immigrant women from Latin America and significant percentages from other regions do not have health insurance. A clear majority of women immigrants without health insurance are unaware of public health programs that could help their children receive medical assistance.

Under-employed professionals
A majority of immigrant women from China, Korea, the Philippines, India, Africa and Arab countries describe their last job in their home country as “professional.” The study reveals that a substantial percentage of them have not found comparable employment in the United States. Their current jobs in America include working as a hotel maid, restaurant waitress, factory technician, house cleaner and textile worker.

These results, and others, indicate that women may well be putting devotion to the well-being of their families ahead of personal job status and pride in choosing to immigrate.