The Center’s focus on immigration and poverty is motivated by the
important role immigrants play in the U.S. economy, and by the
Center’s location in the Central Valley of California. Each
of our other research areas: Labor Markets and Poverty, the
Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty, and the
Non-traditional Safety Net hold questions that are unique to the
immigrant experience.
See below for more information on research projects and other
resources related to this topic.
The Center’s focus on immigration and poverty is motivated by the
important role immigrants play in the U.S. economy, and by the
Center’s location in the Central Valley of California. Each of
our other research areas: Labor Markets and Poverty, the
Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty, and the Non-cash
Safety Net hold questions that are unique to the immigrant
experience.
For example, what is the connection between low skilled workers’
wages, inequality and immigration? How do access and take-up of
safety-net programs among immigrant populations differ from
native populations? How does the process of immigrant
assimilation affect intergenerational mobility?
Our Research Affiliates across a wide range of disciplines are
employing both quantitative and qualitative research strategies
to shed light on these important questions.
Exclusionary immigration policies have led to a sizeable
undocumented population that is largely barred from access to
resources in the United States, however there is little research
that looks at the impact of legal status on immigrants’
psychological wellbeing.
Over the past 45 years, the United States has experienced a
rising standard of living, with real GDP per capita more than
doubling between 1959 and 2004. In contrast, living standards
among some groups seem to have stagnated. Although a number of
studies have documented a correlation between macroeconomic
conditions and poverty, the relationship is not as simple, or as
strong, as one might think. What additional factors can explain
the starkly different trends in economic well-being that are
measured by overall GDP growth and the poverty rate?
The number of adults in the U. S. with learning problems range
from 3-15% of the general population, and of those with learning
problems, approximately 48% are out of the workforce or
unemployed (National Institute for Literacy, 1999). Identifying
and assessing these individuals is critical so that pre- and
postemployment services can be tailored to their learning needs.
To this end, Research Affiliate Gail Goodman and the Center for Public Policy
Research (CPPR) at UC Davis, is developing a short screening
measure for Spanish-speaking adult applicants for the
Welfare-to-Work program to determine those at risk for
learning problems. The entire project is expected to last
approximately three years.
These briefs are short and informative analyses of our research
relating to poverty policies. Policy Briefs deliver our
cutting-edge research directly to policy makers, researchers, and
stakeholders in an accessible format.
Parents struggling with food insecurity can experience heightened levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. These pressures may negatively affect their parenting, which may in turn affect the behavior of their children. In this study, we investigated the parenting aggravation levels of parents who experienced food insecurity in the aftermath of the Great Recession. We also explored the extent to which such aggravation may be responsible for the link between food insecurity and children’s behaviors.
The Food Stamp Program (FSP, known since 2008 as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) is one of the largest safety-net programs in the United States. It is especially important for families with children. However, the FSP eligibility of documented immigrants has shifted on multiple occasions in recent decades. When I studied the health outcomes of children in documented immigrant families affected by such shifts between 1996 and 2003, I found that just one extra year of parental eligibility before age 5 improves health outcomes at ages 6-16.
Young, undocumented Latino immigrants face many challenges in the United States. Undocumented Latino youth are less likely to graduate from high school and attend college than native-born youth and are more likely to live in poverty and report clinical levels of depression. Our research examines the impact of changes in legal status related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Latino immigrant young adults in California, with a focus on distress and psychological wellbeing.
