Saturday, May 16, 2009

NAM Poll: Women Immigrants Keeping Families Together

Until the mid 1900s, most immigrants were men, but this new poll is proving how important (and numerous) the women are now. They are immigrating as wives and mothers and are helping the most by keeping families together. - - Donna Poisl

New America Media, Commentary, Sandy Close and Richard Rodriguez

Editor’s Note: The story of migration is no longer a man’s story. It is increasingly becoming a woman’s tale, according to “Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century,” a new poll by New America Media. The survey of 1,002 female immigrants from Latin American, Asian, African, and Arab countries, found that immigrant women are taking charge in keeping their families together. At a time when more than one-third of families in the United States are single-parent households, 90 percent of women immigrants interviewed report that their families are intact, writes NAM Executive Director Sandy Close.

The story of migration, as it has traditionally been told, has been a masculine epic. But in the latter part of the 20th century, as women began immigrating to America in ever-growing numbers, the migration story became increasing a woman’s tale as well. Women are now on the move, as much as men. But their narrative is different from that of their male predecessors -– they are migrating not as lone individuals but as members, even heads, of families, determined to keep family bonds intact even as they travel great distances and adapt to new cultures.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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