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by Yolanda C. Padilla, Melissa Dalton Radey, Eunjeong Kim, and Robert A. Hummer
Recent research findings have brought attention to the hardship faced by children of immigrants in the United States. Family structure may also be a major factor affecting the well-being of immigrant children, but one that has not received much attention, mainly as a result of the relatively higher marriage rates found among immigrants.Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, Yolanda Padilla and colleagues found that U.S.-born children of Mexican immigrants in unmarried families face significant disadvantages on a variety of levels compared to children of U.S.-born mothers. As shown in the figure, Mexican immigrant mothers have significantly lower levels of education. The authors also found that these women have significantly lower levels of employment (link to figure) and much higher rates of poverty (link to figure), as well as less access to social services.
On some indicators, children of unmarried Mexican origin mothers appear to be quite well off, most notably because their rates of low birth weight are low and maternal health behaviors are so positive. The poor socioeconomic and social service profile of children born to Mexican origin unmarried women, however, suggest that even when healthy at the starting gate, they may potentially face poor outcomes during childhood and beyond.
This study, "Mexican American Child Health: Birth to Early Childhood," is funded by NICHD (1R01-HD-043371-01).