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Title: Families and Economic Achievement: Taking Another Look at Japanese Americans and Mexican Americans in California, 1940-1960

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2001

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Abstract: The high frequency of poverty and single parent households among African Americans has scholars debating: does single-parent households cause poverty, or does poverty lead to high rates of single parent households? This paper extends this debate on the relationship between family structure and economic achievement to Japanese Americans in the post-World War II era.In his 1972 paper, Uhlenberg argued that differences in family structure, in particular the smaller family size, older mothers, and more stable marriages contributed to Japanese American economic success relative to Mexican Americans. However Uhlenberg used 1960 family structure and economic data, when this argument requires data on the family structure a generation before 1960. Using 1940 Census data, I show that the family structure of Japanese and Mexican immigrants was the same in terms of family size and age of mother, with the only difference being in slightly less stability among Mexican American families. Since the economic status and family structure of Japanese and Mexican Americans diverged at the same time, I argue that it is more likely that the improved economic status of Japanese Americans led to changes in family structure.

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Authors: Suzuki, Masao

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Institution: Skyline College

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity

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