cover image: Children in Immigrant Families: Looking to America's Future. Social Policy Report. Volume 22, Number 3

Children in Immigrant Families: Looking to America's Future. Social Policy Report. Volume 22, Number 3

Children in immigrant families account for nearly one-in-four children in the U.S. They are the fastest growing population of children, and they are leading the nation's racial and ethnic transformation. As a consequence, baby-boomers will depend heavily for economic support during retirement on race-ethnic minorities, many of whom grew up in immigrant families. Because the current circumstances and future prospects of children in immigrant families are important not only to these children themselves, but to all Americans, this report uses data from Census 2000 to portray the lives of children with immigrant parents and highlights policy and program initiatives that will foster the future success of these children. This report begins by discussing the diverse origins and destinations of children in immigrant families. It then highlights substantial evidence that children in immigrant families have deep roots in the U.S. reflected in their own citizenship, as well as their parents' citizenship and length of residence in this country, their own and their parents' English fluency, and their family commitment to homeownership. Based on a new alternative to the official poverty measure, the report continues by discussing economic challenges confronted by many immigrant families. It also portrays additional immigrant strengths and challenges associated with family composition, parental education and employment, and access for children of immigrants to early education and the later years of schooling. Looking toward fostering a successful future for these children, the report identifies promising policy and programmatic initiatives for language and literacy training, and for assuring access to education, health, and other essential services, and it identifies immigrant-related questions that should be asked in all research studies involving children and families. [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University at Albany. Commentaries from Ruby Takanishi, Tim Smeeding, Frosso Motti-Stefanidi and Marta Tienda are included. Commentaries are individually referenced.]

Authors

Hernandez, Donald J., Denton, Nancy A., Macartney, Suzanne E.

Related Organizations

Authorizing Institution
Society for Research in Child Development
Peer Reviewed
F
Publication Type
['Collected Works - Serial', 'Reports - Evaluative']
Published in
United States of America
Sponsor
['William and Flora Hewlett Foundation', 'Foundation for Child Development', 'Annie E. Casey Foundation', 'National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH)']

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