Research

Financial Access for Immigrants: Lessons from Diverse Perspectives

Report Author: 
Center for the Study of Financial Access for Immigrants
Original Date of Publication: 
2006 May

Financial access — knowing what one's financial options are and having products and services to choose from — is closely linked to economic prosperity. The success of today's immigrants — who come to the United States largely seeking to improve their own prospects for prosperity — depends on their access to mainstream financial institutions that can help them save money, buy homes, access credit, start businesses and otherwise build wealth.

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fai-lessons_from_diverse_perspectives.pdf

Accounting for Regional Migration Patterns and Homeownership Disparities in the Hmong-American Refugee Community, 1980-2000

Report Author: 
Michael Grover
Original Date of Publication: 
2008 Oct

Hmong refugees began arriving in significant numbers in the United States in the late 1970s. Compared to typical immigrants, Hmong-Americans came with few financial, labor market, or co-ethnic support factors in favor of their economic success in the United States.

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homeownership_disparities.pdf

A Portrait of New England's Immigrants

Report Author: 
Antoniya Owens
Original Date of Publication: 
2008 Nov

New England is home to 1.6 million immigrants. Their number is growing far faster than that of the native population. They are more likely than natives to be of working age. Moreover, they are better educated than immigrants nationwide, with more than three quarters having a high school diploma, and close to a third holding a bachelor’s degree. For all these reasons, immigrants contribute importantly to the growth of the region’s labor force.

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rr0802.pdf

Interest and Action

Report Author: 
Michael Liu, Shauna Lo, and Paul Watanabe
Original Date of Publication: 
2008 Oct

Findings from a survey of Asian American attitudes on immigrants, immigration, and action. The survey is based on over 400 Chinese and Vietnamese American respondents in Boston and Quincy, MA. The survey found general support for immigrants and immigrant rights. It also found general sympathy for Latino demands and a willingness to become active around these issues.

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Interest&Action.pdf

Immigrant Workers in the Massachusetts Health Care Industry

Report Author: 
Ramon Borges-Mendez, James Jennings, Donna Haig Friedman, Malo Hutson, and Teresa Eliot Roberts
Original Date of Publication: 
2009 Mar
Foreign-born and foreign-trained workers and professionals are increasingly a vital share of the labor force in health care and its allied sub-sectors. In 2000, 1.7 million foreign-born workers (immigrants) accounted for 11.7 percent of all health care workers in the U.S. This includes non-medical personnel and maintenance workers who do not necessarily deliver health services but whose work highly influences the quality of care. The share of foreign-born workers in direct health care service provision was higher: 13 percent.
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immigrant_workers_healthcare_full.pdf

Challenges to Multiculturalism

Report Author: 
Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

An anti-bilingual education referendum was offered to citizens of Massachusetts in November of 2002. The referendum read, in part, “The current state law providing for transitional bilingual education in public schools will be replaced with a law requiring that, with limited exceptions, all public school children must be taught English by being taught all subjects in English and being placed in English language classrooms.” The University of Massachusetts Gaston Institute analyzed the results of that referendum, here reported on by Jorge Capetillo-Ponce.

 

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Challenges_Multi_1.pdf

Asian Owned Businesses

Report Author: 
Paul Watanabe and Michael Liu
Original Date of Publication: 
2007 Jun

This report profiles Asian-owned businesses in Massachusetts.1 In the profile, we see that the number of these businesses and their sales and receipts are substantial and, most importantly, rapidly expanding.These companies employ a significant number of workers which adds considerably to their payrolls. They are varied in size and area of activity. While some assuredly appeal to and serve an expanding Asian American clientele, others are involved in more mainstream pursuits with broad customer bases.

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asian_owned_businesses.pdf