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Title: Chinese Children Among the Poor: Comparing U.S. Natives with Immigrants from Taiwan, Mainland China, and Hong Kong
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2010
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Abstract: Research on Chinese Americans often centers onsuccessful economic incorporation in American society (e.g.,model minority). Unfortunately, previous research hasoverlooked the changing economic circumstances of nativeandforeign-born Chinese children, despite the fact thatChinese children living in America are diverse in socioeconomicstatus and geographic origin. In this paper, we use datafrom the 1990 and 2000 censuses to compare levels andchanges in child poverty rates among U.S.-born Chinese andimmigrants from Taiwan, Mainland China, and Hong Kong,and to investigate how changes in maternal employment andfamily structure (including cohabitation) contributed to thedecline in poverty rates in the 1990s. Compared to otherAsian Americans and non-Asians, Chinese children in theU.S. are less likely to live in poverty, thanks in part to moremarried-couple families and higher levels of maternalemployment. Yet, child poverty rates vary among ChineseAmerican subpopulationsbeing lowest for children ofU.S.-born Chinese and highest for children of mainland-bornChinese. In addition, we find that poverty among U.S.-bornand Taiwan-born Chinese would have been even lower hadtheir rates of divorce and cohabitation had been similar tothose for mainland-born and Hong Kong-born Chinese.
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Authors: Qian, Zhenchao; Crowley, Martha; Lichter, Daniel T.
Periodical (Full): Race and Social Problems
Issue:
Volume: 2
Pages: 137-148
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Migration and Immigration, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity
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