Household Structure and Family Ideologies: The Dynamics of Immigrant Economic Adaptation among Vietnamese Refugees

Abstract

Using materials from an ethnographic study of newly arrived Vietnamese refugees in Philadelphia, this article argues that household structure and family ideology play a critical role in the dynamics of immigrant economic adaptation. The study shows the Vietnamese refugee households that were more heterogeneous in age and gender composition to be more adept at “patchworking” or gathering together a wide variety of resources from diverse social and economic arenas. This “patchworking” strategy mitigates the instability and scarcity of available resources. The economic dynamics of the Vietnamese refugee households are also shaped by an ideology of family collectivism — a set of beliefs about family life that encourage the sharing of individual social and economic resources within the household. Cooperative household economic behavior is also fostered by beliefs that help to generate agreement among household members about household goals. These ideological dimensions of household life are, however, being shaped and in some cases challenged by the migration process.

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