Teresa Abada

The effects of harassment and victimization on self-rated health and mental health among Canadian adolescents

Using 1996/1997 to 2000/2001 data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, this paper examines the effects of harassment on self-rated and mental health status among Canadian adolescents aged 16-17 years. Forty-six percent of the children experienced harassment and victimization (verbal aggression, threat, and physical harm/assault) at school and 40% outside of school. Harassment at school, rather than otherwise, was associated with poor health status and higher levels of depression even when previous health conditions and socio-demographic variables were held constant. The relationship between harassment and mental health is particularly pronounced among girls, immigrant children and those living in single-parent households. Given the sizable proportion of adolescents as victims of harassment at school and its significant relationship with both health status and depression, the issue warrants serious public health attention through school-based intervention programs.

Pursuit of university education among the children of immigrants in Canada: the roles of parental human capital and social capital

Using the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, this article examines the roles of parental human capital and social capital in the pursuit of university education among immigrant youth in Canada. We find segmented patterns across the largest minority groups in Canada, with the Chinese and the south Asians, such as Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, obtaining the highest levels of education, while Blacks show the lowest rate of university education. Our study highlights the need to go beyond human capital models by assessing the benefits of and downsides to social capital. Minority language retention at home is beneficial for post-secondary education while language usage with friends outside the minority community entails the need to be proficient in one of the official languages of Canada, English or French. Having a strong sense of trust is crucial for the pursuit of university education, especially for Blacks. Our findings underscore the importance of examining what forms of social capital are unique to each minority group and the various ways these different forms of social capital are utilised in achieving success in the educational sphere.

Gender Differences in Educational Attainment among the Children of Canadian Immigrants

This article examines the gender differences in university education attainment among the children of Canadian immigrants, observing the extent to which parental human capital and social capital in the family and immigrant community may be more important and/or different for men and women. This allows us to examine the degree to which structural and cultural factors used to explain racial differences in academic achievement are also viable explanations along gender lines. Distinct patterns of upward mobility or possibilities for blocked mobility are segmented not only by race and ethnicity but also along gender lines. This study finds the importance of parental human capital whereby maternal education matters more for girls while fathers education was more prominent for sons education. Family structure and feelings of exclusion during childhood have a more important role for women while identification with an ethnic ancestry for men is crucial for their pursuit of higher education.

Choice or necessity: do immigrants and their children choose self-employment for the same reasons?

Using a generational cohort method and the 1981 and 2006 Canadian Census 20 per cent sample files, this study examines whether the effects of three important determinants of self-employment – expected earnings differentials between paid and self-employment, difficulties in the labour market, and ethnic enclave – differ between immigrants and non-immigrants. Unemployment had a stronger push effect on self-employment among immigrant fathers than among Canadian-born fathers. Expected earnings differential had a stronger effect among Canadian-born fathers than among immigrant fathers. Sons of both immigrants and the Canadian-born were more strongly affected by expected earnings differentials than were their fathers, while unemployment was not a significant factor for them. Ethnic enclave was not positively associated with the self-employment rates among both immigrants and their children.

WOMEN'S AUTONOMY AND UNINTENDED PREGNANCIES IN THE PHILIPPINES

To date, very few studies have examined what contributes to unwanted and mistimed births in the Philippines. In a country where women have higher educational levels than their male counterparts, and their status is among the highest in Asia, it is expected that unwanted births will be low. The evidence, however, points to the contrary as 44% of births reported in the last five years were unintended. Using the 2003 Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey, this article focuses on married women who are currently pregnant and those who had given birth in the last five years. Multinomial logistic regression is employed to ascertain the risks of a recent birth/pregnancy being unwanted, mistimed or wanted. Regardless of womens status, having a final say in household and sexual matters with husbands lowers the risk of unwanted births but not mistimed births, calling into question the use of status variables such as education and wealth as indicators of womens autonomy. The success of implementing family planning programmes and policies in reducing unintended pregnancies underscores the importance of understanding how women are able (or unable) to make decisions surrounding their reproductive intentions.

Obligations and Expectations: Perceived Relationship between Transnational Housing Investment and Housing Consumption Decisions among Ghanaian Immigrants in Canada

Abstract Transnational housing investment is a pervasive practice among many migrant groups residing in various destination countries; including Ghanaian migrants living in Canada. For many, the need to engage in transnational housing investment is beyond the standard rationale and has two prime significance; symbolic and practical utility. Engagement in this endeavour requires substantial financial commitments over extensive periods of time with potential consequences for various aspects of immigrants’ lives in their destination areas including their housing consumption. This paper examines perceived influence of such long-term commitments on housing consumption decisions among Ghanaian immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The findings show that although engagement in transnational housing is associated with constraints on immigrants’ decision to enter homeownership, type of dwelling to rent and the neighbourhood choices, it was also associated with a sense of pride, success and integration into Canadian society. The paper concludes that a broader theoretical discussion of housing integration is necessary. Specifically, it calls for a redefinition of the measures of immigrant housing integration in particular – which narrowly considers destination parameters – to one that includes transnational factors as critical in moving the debate on understanding immigrant integration in general.

Bosses of Their Own: Are the Children of Immigrants More Likely to be Self-Employed than their Parents?

Using a generational cohort method, this paper compares the self-employment rates of immigrant parents and their children when they were in the same age range of 25 to 44. The focus is on three questions: (1) Are the children of immigrants more or less likely to be self-employed than their parents? (2) Are the children of immigrants more or less likely to be self-employed than the children of Canadian-born parents? (3) Is the generational change from immigrant parents to their children in the self-employment rate different to that from Canadian-born parents to their children? The results show that Canadian-born male children of immigrants had a lower self-employment rate than their fathers. The decline in the self-employment rate was not unique from immigrant fathers to second-generation men. It was also observed from Canadian-born parents to their children. For both groups, the decline was related to changes in life-course events—longer schooling, fewer marriages and fewer children. Similar to the difference among their fathers, the second-generation men had a higher self-employment rate than the third-and-higher-generation men. Among women, the self-employment rate increased from immigrant mothers to their daughters and from Canadian-born mothers to their daughters.

Family Diversity and Children's Behavioral Outcomes in Canada: From Structure to Process

Abstract Using data from the 1994/1995 and 1996/1997 Canadian National Longitudinal Survey for Children and Youth, we explore the roles of economic resources and family processes as explanations for family structure differences on childrens internalizing (emotional disorder) and externalizing (physical aggression and property offenses) behaviors. Our results show that household income was significant for childrens internalizing behavior but was not substantial enough to account fully for the deleterious outcomes among children living in diverse households. Parenting practices and parental depression were more important than economic resources in reducing the effect of stable single-parent families on emotional disorder. Parenting practices were especially crucial in accounting for the family structure effects on property offenses, and family structure effects remain as important factors in explaining childrens physical aggression. Our study underscores the distinction made between stable family structures versus recent family change as important determinants of childrens well-being.