Question

How to apply accounting perspective to solve immigrant assimilation in USA?

Answer 1

Almost 13 per cent of the American population is foreign born, and if the children of the foreign born are included, about 1 in 4 Americans can be counted as part of the recent immigrant community. Although there is lingering prejudice and popular fears of immigrants, there is growing evidence that, on balance, immigrants make a positive contribution to the American economy and society. There is little evidence that immigrants have an adverse impact on the wages and employment of native born Americans. Moreover, immigrants and their children are disproportionately represented in a broad variety of scientific and cultural fields.

In spite of lingering prejudice and discrimination against immigrants, most Americans are beginning to acknowledge the positive contributions of immigrants. These beliefs are partially rooted in the historical image of the United States as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ The story that America was populated by peoples seeking economic opportunity, fleeing injustice or oppression in their homeland, and hoping for a better life for their children has a strong grip on the American immigration. Moreover, there is a growing body of research that shows that most immigrants do assimilate to American society and that immigration has net positive impacts on the American economy, society, and culture.

In spite of the fears that immigrants are resistant to learning English and refuse to join the American mainstream, there is a large body of social science and historical research which concludes that immigrants have, by and large, assimilated to American society. This does not mean that assimilation was painless, automatic, or immediate. For the first generation of immigrants who arrived as adults, the processes of linguistic, cultural, and social change were painful and usually incomplete. Immigrants tend to settle in ethnic enclaves, prefer to speak their mother tongue, and gravitate to places of worship and social events that provide cultural continuity with their origins. Many immigrants do learn English and find employment in the general economy, but few feel completely part of their new society. In the early decades of the 20th century, evidence pointed to the slow and incomplete assimilation of the then ‘new’ immigrants.

With the passage of time, and especially following the emergence of the second generation, there was unmistakable evidence of assimilation among the descendants of early 20th century European immigrants.

Effects of Immigration and Assimilation :

An important concern in immigration research involves the effects of immigration and assimilation on health, education, and social programs, particularly in areas of high immigration concentration. Much folk wisdom has viewed assimilation as a linear process of progressive improvement and adjustment to American society. The general assumption is guided by an implicit deficit model: to advance socially and economically in the United States, immigrants need to "become American" in order to overcome their deficits in the new language and culture. As they shed the old and acquire the new, they acquire skills for working positively and effectively—a process that may not be completed until the second or third generation after entry.

Today's immigration is overwhelmingly composed of newcomers from Asia and Latin America, areas with significantly different languages and cultures than those of previous European immigrants in the late 1800s and earlier decades of the 1900s. Concerns have been raised about the speed and degree to which these immigrants can assimilate—and hence about the social "costs" of these new immigrants—before they begin to produce net benefits to their new society. The traditional assumption is that immigrants have costs to U.S. society in the initial period after arrival, but that the costs decrease and the benefits to society increase as duration of residence increases. It is further assumed that the benefits to society also increase with greater assimilation to American culture.

Considerable Points :

• Compared to households with income greater than $30,000, lower income households are less likely to use all financial services. Households with incomes below $15,001 are approximately 63 percentage points less likely to be have a checking account and 50 percentage points less likely to have a savings account or a credit card compared to households with incomes above $30,000.

• When immigrants come to the United States, they frequently must learn how to navigate new financial systems. Some immigrants come from countries where banks are both trusted and common, some have only experienced weak or corrupt banks, and others have interacted primarily with cash-based markets. They must learn to navigate new financial institutions and products.

• Immigrants who are more acculturated tend to be more open to using credit cards. Likewise, individuals who are younger, employed, higher-income, and have greater English proficiency are more likely to use credit cards. The reasons for using credit cards range from everyday purchases, to emergencies, to building credit.

• In order to meet the financial needs of immigrants, some community-based organizations are offering financial services that are culturally tailored. In research among Asian Americans, receiving financial services from other Asian Americans led to better financial outcomes;

• Remittances are money sent by migrants to spouses, children, parents, or other relatives in their country of origin. These funds are typically sent through money transfer agencies (e.g. MoneyGram, Western Union) for a fee, through banks, or via friends or relatives visiting the country of origin. Remittances have a significant impact to both individuals and families. Remittances make it possible to meet basic needs such as purchasing food and clothing, and paying for rent and utilities.