Immigrant children and youth are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, and so their prospects bear heavily on the well-being of the country. Children of Immigrants represents some of the very best and most extensive research efforts to date on the circumstances, health, and development of children in immigrant families and the delivery of health and social services to these children and their families.


This book presents new, detailed analyses of more than a dozen existing datasets that constitute a large share of the national system for monitoring the health and well-being of the U.S. population. Prior to these new analyses, few of these datasets had been used to assess the circumstances of children in immigrant families. The analyses enormously expand the available knowledge about the physical and mental health status and risk behaviors, educational experiences and outcomes, and socioeconomic and demographic circumstances of first- and second-generation immigrant children, compared with children with U.S.-born parents.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
1 Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance
2 Socioeconomic and Demographic Risk Factors and Resources Among Children in Immigrant and Native-Born Families: 1910, 1960, and 1990
3 Access to Health Insurace and Health Care for Children in Immigrant Families
The Health and Nutritional Status of Immigrant Hispanic Children: Analyses of the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
5 Immigration and Infant Health: Birth Outcomes of Immigrant and Native-Born Women
6 The Health Status and Risk Behaviors of Adolescents in Immigrant Families
7 Educational Profile of 3- to 8-Year-Old Children and Immigrants
8 Psychological Well-Being and Educational Achievement Among Immigrant Youth
9 Passages to Adulthood: The Adaptation on Children of Immigrants in Southern California
10 Receipt of Public Assistance by Mexican American and Cuban American Children in Native and Immigrant Families
11 Receipt of Public Assistance by Immigrant Children and Their Families: Evidence from the Survey of Income and Program Participation
12 Children in Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Farmworker Families: Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey
Other Reports from the Board on Children, Youth, and Families