Economic Assimilation of Women and Families in the Age of Mass Migration / Zachary Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ward, Zachary.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w35332.

NBER working paper series no. w35332

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2026.

Summary:

During the Age of Mass Migration, over forty percent of immigrants were women, yet most research focuses on men. Using linked 1900 and 1910 Census records, I show that economic assimilation patterns differed for men and women, and families assimilated at different rates than individuals. Immigrant families improved their relative income scores compared with US-born families, driven by reliance on multiple earners, particularly women's and children's labor. At the individual level, gaps between immigrant and US-born income scores were larger for women than men, and the gap for women barely changed even after twenty years of stay.

Notes:

June 2026.

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