MetaTOC stay on top of your field, easily

Household Extension and Employment Among Asian Immigrant Women in the United States

,

Journal of Family Issues

Published online on

Abstract

To help explain variation in Asian immigrant women’s employment, we examine the association between women’s employment and the presence and characteristics of adult extended household members for seven Asian immigrant groups: Chinese, Korean, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Filipina, Vietnamese, and Japanese. Using the American Community Survey 2009-2011 pooled data, we find that married, first-generation Asian immigrant women’s employment rates are higher when they live with parents or parents-in-law. Furthermore, hampered by housework and care work, these women apparently receive some support in particular from female extended adults providing child care assistance—especially in families with young children. On the other hand, we find a negative association between the presence of disabled adults and employment, but only for Koreans, and employed extended adults’ support varies across nationality groups. Variations in these dynamics across Asian groups suggest the need for further study.