Family Obligation Fulfillment Among Southeast Asian American Young Adults

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that particular groups of second-generation Asian Americans exhibit high rates of fulfilling their family obligations. Drawing on 50 in-depth interviews with second-generation Vietnamese and Chinese Vietnamese young adults in Southern California, this article highlights a previously overlooked factor in family obligation literature: the influence that parental expectations have on children of immigrants’ family obligation sentiments and behaviors. There are four behavioral types that emerged from the data: expected contributors, unexpected contributors, expected noncontributors, and unexpected noncontributors. An analysis of the different types reveals that parental expectations—born from structural circumstances of economic need and ethnic cultural practices—influence respondents’ attitudes and behaviors toward fulfilling these financial family obligations. I conclude with implications for future research on family obligation behaviors among the children of immigrants.