United States Assimilation and the Remittance and Savings Patterns of Mexican Migrants

• In Event: 242 - Section on International Migration Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Remittances

Abstract

This study utilizes data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) to explore the remittance and savings tendencies of Mexican male household head migrants in the United States. Logistic regressions with a progressive adjustment approach are used to generate odds ratios for a migrant’s propensity to remit and/or save money based upon bank account possession during the last U.S. migration. Having a bank account is used as a proxy for assimilation into United States life because numerous studies have shown that settlement into the U.S. is often coupled with acquiring an account. Demographic, socioeconomic, household composition, and community characteristics are also added in over the models. The study revealed that having a bank account in the United States increases a migrant’s odds of saving and decreases the odds of remitting money home. Additionally, more children in the household and being undocumented from a rural community increases a migrants odds of remitting, while for migrants who saved, more children and being undocumented yielded the opposite relationship.

Authors

• Ben Barrett, Bucknell University

• T. Elizabeth Durden, Bucknell University