Review of “Immigration, Poverty, and Socioeconomic Inequality.” Edited by David Card and Steven Raphael. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Paper, 2013, 469 pages.
...particularly relevant right now in Chicago!
With the arrival of so many migrants from Venezuela and elsewhere in Chicago this book is particularly relevant right now.
Social workers, counselors, and others who help the homeless and the poor can benefit from the information here on not just the situation of those living in poverty but also how the government attempts—or makes it appear as though they are attempting—to help them survive their situation. American programs and those in Europe are explained for the reader.
An important issue is the presence—and lack—of social capital among the poor. Who helps poor families? Who speaks for them? With them? With social capital, people living in poverty—especially those living without a roof—can achieve a lot more in a day than who do not have access to the support, power, advice, and dollars of other people in their corner.
Educators can get a great deal of information about immigration, poverty, and social programs here in one book. A demanding read, this book provides in-depth information and a multitude of charts and graphs to make the points of the experts writing these chapters.
Card and Raphael introduce this compilation with a clear explanation of their reason for putting these readings together in one place. They wished to explore how the huge waves of immigration since the 1960s have impacted the US workforce, led to any changes in policies, and produced any competition between the newer immigrants and more established ones here.
The editors divide the book into four parts, each with chapters containing a great deal of data and demanding familiarity and facility with statistics. The information is in-depth and the figures are extensive in each chapter.
· Part I centers on the composition, competition and geography of immigrant poverty, showing interconnections and impacts of newer waves of immigrants. This section contains readings on the role of language in the ability to obtain and hold onto employment and the new locations immigrants now choose.
· Part II includes readings looking at intergenerational issues and mobility. Included are readings on achievement, opportunity, and social capital.
· Part III includes looks not only at poverty issues but also at government responses and restrictions, including notes on the US safety net and how it serves, and does not serve, immigrants. This part includes immigration enforcement and social policy also.
· Part IV deals with the European experience and provides just one reading showing the history of immigration there and the current realities. It is very interesting to look at the figures there and look at the programs and poverty in Europe and how they contrast with US funding in government programs and the immigrant income levels.
Policymakers, community college administrators, and community organizers and activists, especially, can make good use of the in-depth reporting found in each of the book’s chapters.
High school and college teachers and administrators will learn a great deal from the chapter on Generation 1.5 students, some of whom go on to college and some who decide to follow other paths.
Professor Roberto Gonzales explains the factors of family poverty and some students’ lack of documentation to be in the US as main reasons talented young people do not consider higher education choices when the time comes.
His understanding of the plight of some Generation 1.5 students is thorough…
…and he has conducted a qualitative study with interesting and revealing results.
I recommend the book and would advise readers to proceed one chapter at a time, making notes and considering the discussion section in-depth before going on in the book. Readers must have facility with statistics to be able to understand most of the chapters of the book.
Full of essential graphs and charts, the book provides up-to-date information and figures, and it illustrates tendencies from several years. A newer edition of this book could include some figures and challenges of the most recent huge waves of migrants entering the US.