Characteristics of male heads of households on control variables by immigrant legal status
| All respondents | Unauthorized workers | Temporary workers | Legal permanent residents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | StdD | Mean | StdD | Mean | StdD | Mean | StdD | |
| Human capital | ||||||||
| Years of education | 6.5 | 3.8 | 6.7 | 3.9 | 7.5a,b | 3.4 | 5.8c | 3.8 |
| Age at most recent U.S. trip | 33.9 | 10.8 | 32.3 | 10.6 | 35.2a,b | 10.5 | 38.0c | 11.4 |
| No. of prior U.S. trips | 4.2 | 5.4 | 2.4 | 3 | 2.9a,b | 2.7 | 9.0c | 7.8 |
| Duration of U.S. trip (in months) | 25.2 | 32.5 | 26.2 | 54.2 | 17.7a,b | 27.2 | 23.8 | 35.1 |
| % responding “yes” | StdD | % responding “yes” | StdD | % responding “yes” | StdD | % responding “yes” | StdD | |
| English ability | ||||||||
| None (1=yes) | 28.9 | — | 32.7 | — | 27.1b | — | 19.4c | — |
| Limited (1=yes) | 63.9 | — | 62.4 | — | 68.6 | — | 67.0c | — |
| Strong (1=yes) | 7.3 | — | 5 | — | 4.3b | — | 13.7c | — |
| Social capital | ||||||||
| Close family w/ U.S. exp. | 55.4 | — | 48.2 | — | 30.0a,b | — | 77.9c | — |
| Extended family w/ U.S. exp. | 78.9 | — | 75.3 | — | 51.4a,b | — | 92.7c | |
| Close family in U.S. | 54.8 | — | 51.8 | — | 37.9a,b | — | 65.0c | |
| Extended family in U.S. | 75.4 | — | 72.3 | — | 51.4a,b | — | 87.2c | |
| Joined U.S. social org(s) | 15.9 | — | 14.5 | — | 20 | — | 18.7c | — |
| Referred job | 65.9 | — | 69.9 | — | 37.9a,b | 60.7c | ||
| U.S. trip controls | ||||||||
| Interviewed in the U.S. | 14.5 | — | 10.6 | — | 10.0b | — | 25.1c | — |
| Work-related controls | ||||||||
| Worked in a border state (1=yes) | 59.6 | — | 68.1 | — | 22.1a,b | — | 69.7c | — |
| U.S. Occupation | ||||||||
| Professional/skilled (1=yes) | 28.7 | — | 33.3 | — | 22.1a | — | 18.1c | — |
| Service/sales/office (1=yes) | 21 | — | 26.3 | — | 23.8 | — | 19.1c | — |
| Unskilled manual (1=yes) | 24.3 | — | 20.5 | — | 9.3a,b | — | 24.0c | — |
| Agricultural (1=yes) | 26 | — | 19.9 | — | 45.0a | — | 38.7c | — |
| Total N | 3,273 | 2,255 | 140 | 878 | ||||
a Temporary worker versus unauthorized worker difference is significant using two-tailed t-tests (p<.05).
b Temporary worker versus legal permanent resident difference is significant using two-tailed t-tests (p<.05).
c Legal permanent resident versus unauthorized worker difference is significant using two-tailed t-tests (p<.05).
Source: Mexican Migration Project 143; sample was limited to non-U.S. citizen, male heads of households who worked during their most recent trip to the United States when above the age of 16, from 1987 to 2011.