November 23, 2005

The Center for Community Problem Solving announces its Health of Mexican Immigrants in NYC Pilot Study

During the week of November 14, HOY and El Diario (New York City’s two major daily Spanish language newspapers) reported on the findings of an important new study on Mexican immigrants conducted by New York University School of Law’s Center for Community Problem Solving (CCPS) and the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) at the New York Academy of Medicine. Thanks to a team of more than 20 bilingual researchers, the CCPS and CUES was able to administer a 21-page survey to over 500 adults who identified themselves as being born in Mexico.

In the United States, foreign-born Mexicans (approximately 10 million in total) make up the largest immigrant group in the country. Five million of these individuals are undocumented, and as a whole, the ethnic group is growing more rapidly than any other in the nation. Their presence is what led the CCPS to launch this unique study of both documented and undocumented Mexicans. According to the CCPS, the Health of Mexican Immigrants Pilot Study aimed to “learn about Mexican immigrants’ health status and access to health care, and about associations between their health status and legal status acculturation, discrimination and social support.”

Interviews were conducted with more than 500 Mexican immigrants from around New York City, in areas such as Sunset Park, East Harlem, Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Astoria, Bushwick, Williamsburg, the South Bronx, the Lower East Side and Port Richmond. They answered questions about their personal experiences with health care, the criminal justice system, social networks, substance abuse and employment.

Some highlights from the CCPS study:

Average age of Mexican immigrants interviewed - 32 years old.
Male interviewees - 68%
Female interviewees - 32%
91% of interviewees were undocumented
Over 44% reported living in New York for less than four years
Over 66% had children. Of those, almost half had children living with them
Nearly 85% reported not having health insurance
Nearly 35% reported going "nowhere" for medical care
Nearly 30% rated their health as "fair" or "poor"
Over 20% told us that they had problems with employment in the last six months
Nearly 23% have worked as day laborers in the past six months
Over 75% reported living with three or more adults in their house or apartment
Over 78% reported living in a house or apartment with three or less rooms
Over 13% reported having been homeless
Nearly 27% said that they had gone hungry because they couldn't afford food during the last six months
Nearly 60% of the people had experienced discrimination, most prevalently based on language, race and immigration status

To read the full coverage of the study from HOY and El Diario, and to view interviews with project director Stacey Strongarone, click here.

To learn more about the Center for Community Problem Solving and the Mexican Immigrant Health Study, click here.