"Rethinking ""success"" of second generation immigrants: the role of families and communities in the transition to young adulthood"

"Second generation immigrants currently outnumber foreign-born children by more than six to one, a number that doubled in the past decade (Child Trends, 2010). As this contemporary second generation immigrant cohort transitions into adulthood, it will shape considerably the demographics of the young adult population. While many of the same socio-economic factors that negatively affect the outcomes of U.S. children also confront children of immigrants, they are additionally affected by risk factors unique to the immigration process, such as parental citizenship. Therefore, it is important to examine how these risk factors along with those specific to the immigrant experience may impact the success of second generation immigrants. Drawing from the life course perspective and resiliency theory, this study utilizes data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY: 1997) to examine how socio-economic and contextual factors within the family and community during adolescence impact the success of second generation immigrants once they reach young adulthood. This study adds to the growing body of literature on the experiences of immigrants by examining not only traditional socio-economic measures of ""success"" but alternative measures such as health and life satisfaction as well. Results show that for second-generation immigrants contextual factors early in life have an enduring effect in their transition to young adulthood. However, variation by racial groups also emerged across contextual factors and the multiple success indicators."

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human & Community Development

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Wu, Joanna

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lleras, Christy

• immigration
• children of immigrants
• transition to adulthood
• family
• community
• life course
• resilience

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2012 Joanna Wu

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/31045

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/31045