Premium
Transnational Ties, Poverty, and Identity: Latin American Immigrant Women in Public Housing *
Author(s) -
Domínguez Silvia,
Lubitow Amy
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00511.x
Subject(s) - poverty , immigration , latin americans , family ties , interpersonal ties , identity (music) , sociology , ethnography , gender studies , social isolation , economic growth , political science , psychology , economics , social science , physics , genealogy , acoustics , anthropology , law , psychotherapist , history
This study used ethnographic data to examine the nature and functions of transnational relationships of low‐income Latin American women who had immigrated to the United States and were living in areas of extreme poverty. Findings indicated that these Latin American mothers utilized transnational ties to help maintain the cultural identities of themselves and their children, to alleviate social isolation, and to provide a safer summer housing alternative for their children. Transnational ties may have had some negative consequences, including financial and social burdens associated with maintaining long‐distance familial relationships. However, despite some negative aspects, we conclude that transnational ties are often an instrumental resource for immigrant mothers living in poverty and are vital to immigrant social mobility.