The Invisible Unattended

Low-wage Chinese Immigrant Workers, Health Care, and Social Capital in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2275005
AutoresKay Kei‐ho Pih (California State University, Northridge), Akihiko Hirose (0000-0002-3967-5529, University of Colorado Denver), Kuoray Mao (0000-0003-4067-6059, University of Kansas)
Año2012
Volumen82
Número2
Páginas236-256
Fecha de publicación2012-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1475-682x.2012.00408.x
OpenAlexW1581345960
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas51

This study investigates the factors affecting the availability of health insurance, the accessibility of health care, and the dissemination of the relevant information among low-wage Chinese immigrants in Southern California by relying on the concepts of social and cultural capital. Using community-based research and in-depth interviews, our study suggests that a severe shortage in health care coverage among low-wage Chinese immigrants is influenced by the lack of employment with employer-provided health insurance within the Chinese 'ethnoburb' community. Although the valuable social capital generated by Chinese immigrant networks seems to be sufficient enough to provide them with certain practical resources, the lack of cultural capital renders the social network rather ineffective in providing critical health care information from mainstream American society

Business · Capital (architecture · Chinese americans · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economic shortage · Economics · Geography · Health care · Immigration · Labour economics · Low wage · Mainstream · Political science · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Wage · Global Health Workforce Issues · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Health and Trauma