Economic crisis and Latin American migration in the United States

Abstract

In his paper we analyze the impact of economic crisis on migration dynamics and social conditions of Latin American immigrants in the United States. The data indicate that the economic crisis has not reduced the volume of Latin American workers, but also Latino immigrants concentrate their absolute and relative participation in occupations and tasks that support the social and daily reproduction of the population of middle and upper strata. However, as a result of that process, the crisis would have directly affected their working conditions and living standards, increasing the proportion of them in situations of high job precariousness and in poverty. Thus, in the current context of economic crisis, the cost of social reproduction is partly transferred to this sector of the workforce, whose conditions of social vulnerability prevents them negotiate better terms the working conditions of its activity.