Demographic and Environmental Determinants of Community Volunteerism Among Asian and Latino Immigrants in California

Background and Purpose

The social integration of immigrants has long been associated with greater levels of social mobility and well-being.  One facet of integration is the extent to which people voluntarily participate in community activities. Research suggests that first generation immigrants are less likely to participate in community services and volunteer work than later generations (Ramakrishnan & Bloemraad, 2008; Ramakrishnan & Viramontes, 2006). Despite the conspicuous positive benefits of community volunteerism, such as improved well-being (Hull, Kilbourne, Reece, & Husaini, 2008), reduced social isolation (Uslaner & Conley, 2003), and attained equal opportunity and justice (Perez, Espinoza, Ramos, Coronado, & Cortes, 2010), research in community volunteerism is limited among immigrants in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to examine the demographic and environmental determinants that influence community volunteerism among Asian and Latino immigrants.

Methods

We used the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) for adults. The sample consisted of 1,942 Asian immigrants and 768 Latino immigrants. Community volunteerism was measured by whether subjects have participated in volunteer work or unpaid community service. Demographic determinants included sex, age, race, education, employment, length of stay in the U.S., English proficiency and citizenship status. Environmental determinants included household environment (household size, family type, household income, and household tenure), neighborhood environment (urban rural classification), psychosocial environment (neighborhood cohesion, and lifetime discrimination), and policy environment (participation in public programs). Using logistic regression, we examined demographic and environmental determinants of community volunteerism among Asian and Latino immigrants.

Results

In general, the results indicated that older age, higher English proficiency, not having children, smaller household size, neighborhood cohesion, perceived discrimination based on ancestry or national origin, perceived discrimination based on the way they speak English, and participation in public programs had significant positive associations with community volunteerism. However, results also revealed differences in determinants of community volunteerism between Asian immigrants and Latino immigrants. Employment status, income, neighborhood environment, perceived discrimination based on age or gender, and participation in public programs were significantly associated with community volunteerism for Asian immigrants, but not for Hispanic immigrants. U.S. citizenship, and perceived discrimination based on ancestry or national origin were significantly associated with community volunteerism for Hispanic immigrants, but not for Asian immigrants.

Conclusions and Implications

Our study identified both demographic characteristics and multi-layered environmental factors that affect community volunteerism among immigrants. We found that exposure to discrimination brings about community volunteerism. This result may reflect that immigrants adapt self-empowering strategies to seek public validation and dissipate prejudice. Our study also suggests that determinants of community volunteerism differ between Asian and Latino immigrants. Therefore, the efforts to promote social integration of immigrants should be accompanied by consideration of their national or ethnic origins, and different lived experience with the understanding of their unique family, neighborhood, and social context.