Full Citation

Title: A Birfurcated Enclave: The Economic Evolution of the Cuban and Cuban American Population of Metropolitan Miami

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: We summarize the history of the Cuban economic enclave of Miami, from its origins to the present. The uniqueness of the story lies not only in the emergence of this phenomenon and its early consequences but also in its bifurcation following the episode of the March boatlift of 1980. We examine the reasons for the split between the earlier waves of Cuban exiles arriving in the 1960s and 1970s and subsequent refugees. On the basis of census data, we are able to document the economic evolution of the Cuban and Cuban American population of the Miami metropolitan area, the signifi cant divide in economic returns in favor of entrepreneurs, and the wide gap in personal and family incomes between pre-1980 Cubans and their children and those coming after that date. Reasons why Mariel and post-Mariel Cubans have done much more poorly both as entrepreneurs and as workers in the Miami labor market are examined. Implications for the educational attainment and social adaptation of their US-born children, the second generation, are documented on the basis of data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS).

Url: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cuban_studies/v043/43.portes.pdf

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Authors: Portes, Alejandro; Puhrmann, Aaron

Periodical (Full): Cuban Studies

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Volume: 43

Pages: 40-63

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other, Race and Ethnicity

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