Pandemic Precarity: COVID-19's Impact on Mexican and Central American Immigrant Families.

Objective: The study examines the association of gender, parenthood, and marriage with reports of perceived pandemic precarity among Mexican and Central American immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2020) to understand predictors of vulnerability in periods of crisis. Background: Latinos/as, immigrants, parents, and women have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family structure, along with social expectations for gender (i.e., self-sacrificing femininity for women and hegemonic masculinity for men), parenthood, and marriage may explain perceptions of pandemic precarity - defined as the material deprivation and economic anxiety resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This study used data from the Hispanic COVID-19 Rapid Response Study (n=400), a follow-up of the VidaSana Study of Mexican and Central American immigrants, to examine how family structure is associated with pandemic precarity (i.e., food, housing, and economic insecurity). Using linear regression models, average marginal effects (AMEs), and tests for group differences we investigate the independent and interactive effects of gender, parenthood, and marriage on pandemic precarity. Results: Men and parents reported the highest pandemic precarity. Fathers reported higher pandemic precarity than mothers. For men, marriage is associated with greater precarity, and for women, marriage is associated with less precarity, yet marriage increased precarity for those without children. Conclusion: We discuss the importance and implications of examining gender along with family structure to understand how immigrant families were faring in response to the pandemic.

Shadow education, pandemic style: Social class, race, and supplemental education during Covid-19.

Research on shadow education-i.e., one-on-one or group learning intended to supplement children's experiences in school-has documented persistent social class and racial/ethnic inequalities. Yet, as with many things during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of shadow education changed dramatically. Much supplemental education shifted online, potentially increasing accessibility; many universities became testoptional, potentially reducing the demand for the shadow education industry; and a new form of shadow education-learning pods-emerged to take pandemic schooling from a more individual to a more collective experience. In this article, we use data from a sample of U.S. parents of K-12 students stratified by race/ethnicity (N = 1911) to assess social class and racial/ethnic inequalities in shadow education in 2020-21, the first full academic year of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are also the first scholars, to our knowledge, to assess high-quality data on the use of learning pods. We find that during the pandemic, African American and South Asian students were more likely than White student to use test preparation services and online supplemental education, and that African Americans, East Asians and Latinx were more likely to utilize private tutoring. We find few disparities by family income, however, thus supporting the idea that some forms of shadow education have become more accessible than they once were. Regarding learning pods, we find that pods were most common among African American families and families with parents who were less educated and worked fulltime. Thus, most learning pods were not a means of "opportunity hoarding," as some scholars originally feared, but instead provided sorely needed childcare and support during a time of social turbulence.

Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for Mexican students.

Using nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS), I assess the oppositional culture explanation for Mexican students. First, I examine if there are differences between Mexican and White students in their academic behaviors, attitudes, and friends' academic orientation. Second, I examine if these measures account for the racial disparity in academic outcomes between Mexican and White students. The results show that there are few differences between Mexican and White students in measures of school-related behaviors, attitudes, and friends' academic orientation. The second part of the analysis suggests that, in general, these measures for behaviors, attitudes, and friends' academic orientation do not explain much of the differences in academic achievement between Mexican and White students. The findings from the study indicate that the oppositional culture explanation does not account for this disparity in achievement.