Growing up in a Mixed-status Family: Immigration Status and Child Well-being

• In Event: 3254 - How Families, Neighborhoods, and Schools Shape Immigrant Lives

Abstract

With recent escalation in government efforts to enforce US immigration laws through deportation, there is increased concern over the impact of such policies on children in mixed status families including citizen and non-citizen members. This paper uses the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine the association between family immigration status and well-being among children under 18 years. In this analysis, families are characterized families into three mutually-exclusive groups: (1) Families comprised of all U.S. citizen members; (2) Families consisting of citizen and legal permanent resident members; (3) Mixed status families including US citizens and/or LPR members as well as non-LPR non-citizen members. Multivariate results suggest that children in mixed status families are more vulnerable to hardships, household crowding and food insecurity, are in worse health, participate in fewer extracurricular activities, live in less socially cohesive neighborhoods and perceive less available assistance from family or friends than those whose residency in the US is secure. However, children in immigrant families have higher levels of school engagement, and immigrant parents express more positive attitudes towards parenting, even in full models controlling for individual, family and household characteristics. Although, there is some evidence suggesting assimilation over time for children in families with legal status, parent-child interaction remains central to well-being in mixed-status families. These findings have important implications as the uncertainty, hardship and stress associated with growing up in a mixed status family may affect later development and outcomes.

Authors

• Laryssa Mykyta, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley

• Jennifer Tabler, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley