Implications of state policy context for the well-being of immigrant families with young children.

Abstract

There is notable variation in state-level social policy exclusions for immigrant parents and their children. Little research has investigated how these exclusions impair the well-being of immigrant families. This study examined how state-level social policy exclusions for immigrants are associated with the well-being of immigrant parents and development of their children. A mixed methods approach guided by the transformative framework was used with quantitative analyses among a subsample of low-income immigrant parents from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N = 1550) and qualitative focus groups with immigrant parents of young children from two states with differing social policy contexts: California (n = 18) and New Hampshire (n = 17). Results indicated that low-income immigrant parents with young children experienced greater parenting-related stressors in states with more restrictive policies toward immigrants. Quantitative findings revealed that children born in more exclusionary states had lower reading skills at age 4 and kindergarten. Findings from the qualitative focus groups identified a core category centered on humanity being at the hands of the state, with the following themes: (1) salience of immigrant limitations; (2) state climate toward immigrants; and (3) social programs reduce stress, but access is variable and filled with barriers. Policy and practice implications are discussed.