Families in Poverty and Noncitizenship: An Intersectional Perspective on Economic Exclusion

Abstract

Recent scholarship on families living in poverty has focused on immigrant and migrant families, legal and illegal. The element of citizenship has received relatively broad attention, as legal status has profound influence on the individual’s life chances. However, studies exploring relations between noncitizenship and poverty have not provided a comprehensive explanation of the mechanisms that deprive noncitizens of the possibility of accumulating sufficient material resources. The study offers a nuanced, comprehensive account of the process of economic deprivation, focusing on four main survival strategies with respect to noncitizen Palestinian families residing in Israel. Drawing on 24 qualitative in-depth interviews with adult family members, we apply the intersectionality approach to decipher mechanisms of exclusion at work in the everyday lives of illegal migrants, shaping their ability to attain material resources. Findings point to a need to adopt a transnational protection framework in order to allow economic and social inclusion of noncitizens.