Patterns of Economic Participation of Mexican-Origin Women in the United States of America

María Adela Angoa Pérez, El Colegio de México

Using the Current Population Survey, data from March 2001 and a hierarchical linear model, this paper explore the factors that affect the economic participation across generations of Mexican-origin women in the United States. The main purpose of this study is to show that there are different patterns of economic participation in the labor force of Mexican-origin women depending on the generational status, and three dimensional issues: individual and human capital, the family characteristics and the characteristics of the place of residence. In the same way, this study attempts to compare the pattern of Mexican-origin women with the American mainstream (white non-Hispanic natives) and to explain the differences between profiles using the perspective of assimilation. The evidence obtained showed that the economic participation profile from third generation was similar to the white non-Hispanic ones, probably because they were more assimilated to the American mainstream, in opposition to other generations.