Poverty Amid Prosperity: Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural California [Paperback]

J. Edward Taylor (Author), Philip L. Martin (Author), Michael Fix (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0877666709 | ISBN-13: 978-0877666707 | Publication Date: November 1997

This book examines the socioeconomic links among farm employment, immigration, and welfare use not only within California's Central Valley, but also along the state's Central Coast and in its southern regions. Using U.S. Census data and information collected from extensive community-level site visits, the authors find that immigration, largely from rural Mexico, is changing the face of rural California, increasing levels of population, poverty, and public service demands. The authors caution that upward mobility among these immigrant workers may be limited and that recent legislative changes are reducing the public resources available to help newcomers adjust, just as the number of immigrants is increasing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a new and systematic treatment of immigrants in rural communities. We are poised at the outset of what appears to be a new migration regime, for which this book not only serves as a key baseline but also provides insight into future prospects. It has quantitative as well as field-method analyses that offer fresh information...The conclusion fulfills the book's promise by walking through a policy analysis of the research implications." -- Lindsey Lowell, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

"The topic is important and has relevance for several states other than California. The authors are respected people, very competent, and clearly concerned about advancing public understanding of the problems addressed in a manner useful to public policymaking... The conclusions...enhance the meaningfulness of the book." -- Calvin Beale, U.S. Department of Agriculture --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

J. Edward Taylor is a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 books, monographs, and articles on economic development, labor migration, and U.S. agriculture. he is the U.S. economist on the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) Committee on South North Migration and is a member of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Study on Migration.

Philip L. Martin is a professor of agriculture and resource economics at the University of California, Davis. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 books, monographs, and articles on farm labor, labor migration, and U.S. agriculture, and edits the monthly newsletters Migration News and Rural Migration News. He was a member of the Commission on Agriculture Workers, which evaluated the effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 on agriculture and farm workers.

Michael Fix is the director of the immigration policy program at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. He has authored, co-authored, or edited "Do Minority-Owned Businesses Get a Fair Share of Government Contracts?" (with Mara E. Enchautegui and others), Immigration and Immigrants: Setting the Record Straight (with Jeffrey S. Passel), Clear and Convincing Evidence: Measurement of Discrimination in America (with Raymond J. Struyk), and The Paper Curtain: Employer Sanctions' Implementation, Impact, and Reform. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 109 pages
• Publisher: Urban Inst Pr (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877666709
• ISBN-13: 978-0877666707
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,896,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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