Book

Assimilation of Immigrants and Their Adult Children: College Education, Cohabitation, and Work

El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2010. 179pp. ISBN: 9781593323912

The New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society Series edited by Steven J. Gold and Ruben G. Rumbaut

Book Review by Contemporary Sociology. 2011. Volume 40: 3. Page: 363-364.

“This book offers new and additional insight for researchers and graduate students interested in the assimilation process of contemporary immigrants, especially Asian and Hispanic immigrants.”

Dr. Chen studies in this book recent immigrants and their adult children in three domains: college education, union formation, and work.

In education, she finds that second-generation youth universally achieve higher in high school graduation than their immigrant parents. However, assimilation in terms of college education is lower among some ethnic groups due to social, cultural and structural factors.

In family life, she finds that being raised in immigrant families protects youth from assimilating into the alternative life style of cohabitation and encourages marriage.

In employment, nativity and immigrant statuses are associated with labor market segmentation and economic stratification. Non-naturalized immigrants are concentrated in ethnic enclaves; these workers typically earn lower pay and have less benefits than naturalized immigrants and natives.

Table of Contents (179 Pages)

Acknowledgement

1     Introduction

2     Assimilation of College Education: Intergenerational and Inter-Class Mobility of the Second Immigrant Generation

3     Cohabitation and Marriage among Immigrant Youth During Transition to Adulthood

4     Divergent Paths of Economic Adaptation: Nativity and Immigrant Statuses, Labor Segment Membership and Economic Well-Being

5     Conclusion

Appendix A

Appendix B

References

Index