Immigrants to America settle according to household arrangements, according to a recent study by Dartmouth geography professor Richard Wright. Unlike previous immigration studies, Wright examined the geography of immigration by making households, rather than individuals, the fundamental unit of analysis.
Wright identified seven distinct types of immigrant households, each defined by a different generational combination of immigrants. For example, he looked at differences between first-generation immigrant households and several combinations of second- and third-generation households.
"This project was very much about households and viewing it in terms of generations," Wright said. "I'm interested in the daily rhythm of immigrant life -- whom they interact with and why."
According to Wright, the study concluded that with whom immigrants live has the most bearing on where they will settle. For example, first-generation immigrants who partner with third- or later-generation immigrants are far more likely to live outside traditional immigrant communities.
The study further indicated that household configurations have more bearing on immigrant settlement patterns than income. It also impacted the methodology of future immigrant studies.
"The study dealt with the broad issue of how we map the foreign-born," Wright said. "If we map the foreign-born as individuals as opposed to households we get different data."
Wright's study had specific implications for the New England region. According to Wright, New England has a concentration of households made up exclusively of second- and third-generation immigrants. Along with Washington state, New England has the highest concentration of these types of households in the country.
This fact is indicative of the larger trend shown in the study: that contrary to traditional views, immigrant dispersion is geographically widespread.
"I think that concern about immigrant concentration is overblown," Wright said. "This study shows that immigrants are part and parcel of society, that they are among us and not concentrated in first-generation communities."
Although no Dartmouth students participated in the study, Wright said students seem to be interested in immigration and related topics.
"Classes on immigration tend to fill up very quickly," Wright said. "I think students are interested in the larger issues of race and assimilation."
Wright said he intends to pursue further research in immigrant geography, specifically with regard to mixed-race households. He is also developing a project that would analyze census data from the last 100 years to discover how immigrant households formed in the past as compared to in the present.
The study, titled "Assimilation and Differences Between the Settlement Patterns of Individual Immigrants and Immigrant Households," was published last week and co-authored by Mark Ellis, a geography professor at the University of Washington.
