Adults in low-income immigrant families were deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis yet avoided safety net programs in 2020
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Bernstein, Hamutal, author Gonzalez, Dulce, author Karpman, Michael, author
- Contributor(s):
- Urban Institute, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, May 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Emigrants and Immigrants -- statistics & numerical data Poverty -- statistics & numerical data Public Assistance -- statistics & numerical data United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Many immigrant families have suffered significant economic hardships and health impacts during the COVID-19 crisis and have faced barriers to participation in safety net programs or other supports. These barriers include restrictive immigrant eligibility rules for federal assistance and policies and practices that discourage eligible family members from program participation. Expansion of the “public charge” rule to consider use of noncash public benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, or housing assistance, in applications for green cards or temporary visas, as well as the broader immigration policy context under the Trump administration, heightened existing barriers for eligible individuals. Studies have found declines in immigrant families’ participation in key federal safety net programs during the Trump administration (Capps, Fix, and Batalova 2020; New York City 2019) and chilling effects related to concerns around the public charge rule (Barofsky et al. 2020; Bernstein, Gonzalez, Karpman, et al. 2019, 2020, 2021; Straut-Eppsteiner 2020; Tolbert, Pham, and Artiga 2020). In this brief, we provide evidence on persistent chilling effects among low-income immigrant families during the pandemic. To do so, we draw on data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), a nationally representative internet-based survey conducted in December 2020. Here, chilling effects are avoidance of noncash benefit programs or other assistance because of concerns about future green card status or immigration status or enforcement. We define adults in immigrant families as adults who were born outside the US (foreign born) or who live with one or more foreign-born family members. We focus on adults with family incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level given the relevance of safety net programming for this population. Our analysis also compares these adults’ experiences by family citizenship and immigration status.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (22 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918316588406676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918316588406676