Gender Transportation-Related Differences Among Older Vietnamese Immigrants

Background: For approximately 4.6 million immigrant older adults a residing in the United States, unmet travel needs impede access to social and healthcare opportunities that are vital to their well-being. Older immigrants experience higher rates of transportation disadvantage owing to a variety of factors. Their unmet travel needs create an elevated risk of social isolation and reduced quality of life. Although older adult women are more likely to report unmet travel needs generally, it is not clear how transportation-related gender differences are influenced by immigration context and shifting gender roles post-immigration. Thus, using a capabilities approach and relational feminist lens, this research examines the transportation behaviors and knowledge, routine activities, and unmet travel needs within a sample of older Vietnamese immigrants.

Method: We use a cross-sectional survey with a convenience sample of older Vietnamese adults (N = 84) recruited from the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (DFW) metroplex. Data were collected July 2020-January 2021 by telephone, using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were calculated for key variables (e.g., routine activities; transportation behavior, knowledge, and costs; unmet travel needs). Inferential statistical analyses (e.g., t-tests, Fisher's exact tests, Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U tests) were conducted to identify gender differences; binomial logistic regression models determined effect sizes (i.e., odds ratios) for gender differences in types of routine activities.

Results: Most of the sample (n = 48, 57.1%) reported being female; the remainder reported being male (n = 36, 42.9%). Most (n = 69, 82.1%) lived in a household where someone owned a car. However, fewer women drove themselves as a means of transportation, with significantly more men (n = 71%) driving than women (n = 40%, p = .005). In contrast, significantly more women (n = 29, 61.7%) than men (n = 13, 37.1%) got rides with others for transportation, p = .028. Male participants spent significantly more money each month on transportation (p = .002) and were more likely to be transportation cost-burdened (p < .001) than their female counterparts. Over a quarter of the participants (n = 23, 27.4%) missed activities due to a lack of transportation. The most missed activity was visiting a friend or family member, followed by going to church or other religious activities. No male participants had missed going to the senior center due to lack of transportation, but four female participants (8.3%) had this experience.

Discussion: Most of the sample relied on private automobiles for transportation. Similar to research findings with other groups of older adults, women were more likely to get rides from others and men were more likely to drive themselves. Therefore, women were more dependent on others for their transportation-related needs. In sum, there were significantly higher rates of transportation-cost burden among the older men and higher rates of transportation disadvantage among older women in the sample. A substantial portion of the sample had unmet travel needs, indicating a potential need for culturally relevant transportation services. Results indicate the need for considering transportation-related gender differences when addressing the transportation needs for older Vietnamese immigrants.