Cultural Persistence and Labor Force Participation among Partnered Second-Generation Women in the United States

Abstract

AbstractWomen who migrate to the United States often face structural and cultural obstacles when joining the workforce. The US-born daughters of these women show considerable upward mobility, yet recent scholarship finds substantial variation in the employment of second-generation women by parental country of origin. This study assesses whether gender traditionalism in the parental country of origin has a persistent effect on the labor force participation of partnered second-generation women in the United States. An analysis of 1995–2015 Current Population Survey data supplemented with parental origin country characteristics finds that gender-traditional behaviors, religions, institutions, and attitudes are each associated with a lower likelihood of female labor force participation (FLFP). We propose that the successful intergenerational transmission of conservative cultural repertoires from the first to the second-generation accounts for these relationships. Conservative religious context is the best overall predictor of lowered second-generation FLFP. However, patriarchal attitudes and institutions in the parental birthplace best account for the participation of women with parental origins in Latin America and the Caribbean, while the effect of religious context is strongest among women with parental origins in Asia and Europe.