A Sociodemographic Profile of Elderly Mexicans in the United States: The Case of the 0.25 Generation and Beyond

Rogelio Saenz, Texas A&M University
Mercedes Rubio, American Sociological Association

The Mexican experience in the U.S. has been shaped by international migration. Researchers have demonstrated that foreign-born Mexicans that came to the United States at an early age tend to have more favorable social and economic outcomes. Unfortunately, there is limited information on the social and economic fortunes of Mexicans on the other side of the life course—the elderly. We use data from the 2000 5% Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) to examine the outcomes of six subgroups of Mexican elderly on selected social, economic, and health characteristics. The findings indicate that elderly immigrants that came to the U.S. when they were 65 or older tend to have higher levels of labor force participation and lower disability rates. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contributions of the results to the 1.5-generation and the epidemiological paradox literatures.