How Gender Affects Remittan

About the Author

Leisy Abrego, the article’s author, is an Associate Professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where Chicana studied. She is a Salvadoran immigrant who was among the first significant group of newcomers to arrive in the United States in the 1980s, and her research has been critical in comprehending the population’s problems (Stanford University Press, 2017b). “Sacrificing Families: Negotiating Laws, Work, and Love Across Borders,” her award-winning book, Abrego has been a central in writing about how the Latino immigrants internalize policies related to immigration (Abrego, 2014). She has since written so many other publication and thus expounded further on the subject, which confirms that she is experienced enough on the subject of immigration and on the issues that affected such groups when they come to the US (Stanford University Press, 2017a). To further warrant her prowess as an academician, the author obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Pomona College in 1997 and later did her Master in Art is Sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles in 2002. In 2008, she graduated with a Ph. D in Sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her office address is Bunche 7357 and can be reached via email [email protected]. Her phone number is (310) 206-941, implying that the professor is reachable at all times (Social Sciences Division UCLA, 2017).

Research Question and Thesis

The research question of the article is to determine how gender plays a role in defining the economic returns of transnational families from El-Salvador. The author begins by describing the key terms of the article and provides an analysis of how the affected populations are affected by them. It is outlined that the remittances are issued selectively with the greatest reason for the disparity being the gender affiliation of those in need. Women are highly disadvantaged because just like other women in other countries, they tend to spend more on their children which further limits their socio-economic integration (Abrego, 2009). The thesis of the article, therefore, is that female immigrants are more venerable to facing structural barriers that hinder their economic success in the US.

Theoretical Foundation and Gendered Social Expectations

The writing of the article is founded on the theory that members of the transnational families tend to be operated and discriminated against in the United Sates and are not favored. The while the intension of moving to the US is they arrive to find there are gender inequalities in the labor market that adversely affect the economic experiences of thee groups. The author thus builds on the fact that there are other varying factors that also play a key role in defining the economic outcome of the immigrant populations including the level of education, the legal status, the social networking and the length of stay in the US. However, the gendered social expectations are key in defining the manner in which the transnational families fared in their new country.

Implications and Findings

From reading the article, I found it particularly interesting that the despite living in the United States for a long time and being in an environment where gender differences are at a minimum in the world, the immigrant populations still believed in the transnational gender roles. It was amazing to find that fathers accepted their roles and mothers consequently accepted the inferiority feeling despite being in a country with a system that empowered he female. In one instance, the author writes, that “Social expectations and images of motherhood and fatherhood are so deeply informed mothers and fathers remitting practices that when I shared with a few respondents the patterns I found, none seemed surprised” (L. Abrego, 2009, p. 1082). The impression is that the population is so much affected that they are not even ware that they are victims of a discriminatory system. In fact, a mother was quoted responding by stating that “A woman had worth when she is a mother, otherwise she is not valued as a mother” (L. Abrego, 2009, p. 1082). It implies that the El Salvador immigrant population is still holding on the archaic beliefs that delineated a woman to her female gender and that promoted the gender-discriminatory behaviors.

Conclusion

From the research paper, it has since become apparent that the transnational mothers are adversely affected by the fact that they are required to remit higher percentages of their earnings. It is also demonstrated that within the ethnic group itself, the women tend to remit more than the men with the primary factor being the perception that the women have about themselves. It thus creates the impression that the deep entrenchment of traditions among these groups has been the central reason for the disparity. There exist many other factors that directly affect the women but it has since dawned that the gendered discriminations are the most profound. It thus implies that to institute change among the population, and instate more equitable remittance programs, it is frit critical that the affected populations are informed about their rights not only as women but also as legal immigrants.

References

Abrego, L. (2009). Economic Well-Being in Salvadoran Transnational Families : How Gender Affects Remittan. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(4), 1070.

Abrego, L. (2014). Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across Borders. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

Social Sciences Division UCLA. (2017). Leisy Abrego. Social Sciences Division Departments. Retrieved from http://www.chavez.ucla.edu/content/leisy-abrego

Stanford University Press. (2017a). Leisy J. Abrego (2014), Sacrificing Families. Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across Borders. The Central and Eastern European Migration Review. Retrieved from http://ceemr.uw.edu.pl/vol-5-no-1-2016/book-reviews/leisy-j-abrego-2014-sacrificing-families-navigating-laws-labor-and-0

Stanford University Press. (2017b). Winner of the 2014 Outstanding Academic Title Award, sponsored by Choice. Honorable Mention in the 2014 AHS Book. Stanford University Press. Retrieved from http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=20152