Why Immigrants Are More Hopeful Than US-born Americans
2023-10-02
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1Immigrants in America are more hopeful about the future than citizens who were born in the United States.
2That is what a recent opinion study of 3,358 immigrant adults found.
3The study, or survey, aimed to find out what the immigrant adults thought about a number of issues.
4Shannon Schumacher is a researcher at KFF, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that works with health policy.
5It was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
6She described what the immigrants told her this way:
7"They said, 'You know, I face challenges here in the U.S., but it's far better than where I came from. And I have this belief that things will be better for my children.'"
8Schumacher added, "Whether that's their education, their safety, their economic opportunities...they think that they're better off and their children are better off."
9The survey was a partnership between KFF and the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
10The organizations carried out the study between April 10 and June 12, 2023.
11The immigrants answered questions by telephone, mail, and online.
12The questions could be answered in any of the 10 most commonly spoken languages in the United States.
13They include English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, French and Tagalog.
14Schumacher said it is the most complete survey of immigrants in the U.S. today.
15"The survey can really help inform the public more about immigrants and really bring their voices to the forefront," she said.
16Schumacher added, "We don't actually hear about immigrants often in their own voices."
17Immigrants make up 16 percent of adults in the U.S. They come from many different countries and are from many classes of people.
18Their belief in a better future remains although they face many difficulties.
19Most of the immigrants in the survey have jobs.
20About half said they have experienced discrimination in the workplace.
21Three in 10 said they had been paid less for doing the same job or have had fewer opportunities to get a better job or increased pay, compared to their U.S.-born coworkers.
22Health care can be another problem.
23One in five immigrants delayed or did not get health care in the past few years.
24Often the reason is lack of money or health insurance.
25And if they see a medical worker, the experience is not always good.
26Schumacher said: "About one in four immigrants say they've been treated unfairly in a health care setting, such as being talked down to."
27She added that they might not have a health care provider explain things in a way they can understand.
28They also might not have had someone explain issues in their language.
29The survey said that Black and Hispanic immigrants face the most discrimination.
30Researchers worked with activist groups within the different immigrant communities to find people to talk to.
31The researchers said the English word "discrimination" was a problem because it does not always mean the same thing in different cultures and languages.
32"People aren't sure what that means," Schumacher said.
33She added that they might use different words, "or they say something that maybe we as researchers would say, 'Oh, that's discrimination,' but they call it bullying or someone just being mean."
34To deal with possible miscommunication, researchers asked direct questions to identify experiences that they defined as discrimination.
35They did this even if the survey subject did not call the experience "discrimination."
36For example, the researcher might ask: "Have you ever been not paid for all the hours you've worked?"
37"Have you been harassed or threatened or been told to go back to your country?"
38I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1Immigrants in America are more hopeful about the future than citizens who were born in the United States. 2That is what a recent opinion study of 3,358 immigrant adults found. 3The study, or survey, aimed to find out what the immigrant adults thought about a number of issues. 4Shannon Schumacher is a researcher at KFF, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that works with health policy. It was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. 5She described what the immigrants told her this way: "They said, 'You know, I face challenges here in the U.S., but it's far better than where I came from. And I have this belief that things will be better for my children.'" 6Schumacher added, "Whether that's their education, their safety, their economic opportunities...they think that they're better off and their children are better off." 7The survey was a partnership between KFF and the Los Angeles Times newspaper. The organizations carried out the study between April 10 and June 12, 2023. 8The immigrants answered questions by telephone, mail, and online. The questions could be answered in any of the 10 most commonly spoken languages in the United States. They include English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, French and Tagalog. 9Schumacher said it is the most complete survey of immigrants in the U.S. today. 10"The survey can really help inform the public more about immigrants and really bring their voices to the forefront," she said. Schumacher added, "We don't actually hear about immigrants often in their own voices." 11Immigrants make up 16 percent of adults in the U.S. They come from many different countries and are from many classes of people. Their belief in a better future remains although they face many difficulties. 12Most of the immigrants in the survey have jobs. About half said they have experienced discrimination in the workplace. Three in 10 said they had been paid less for doing the same job or have had fewer opportunities to get a better job or increased pay, compared to their U.S.-born coworkers. 13Health care can be another problem. One in five immigrants delayed or did not get health care in the past few years. Often the reason is lack of money or health insurance. And if they see a medical worker, the experience is not always good. 14Schumacher said: "About one in four immigrants say they've been treated unfairly in a health care setting, such as being talked down to." She added that they might not have a health care provider explain things in a way they can understand. They also might not have had someone explain issues in their language. 15The survey said that Black and Hispanic immigrants face the most discrimination. 16Researchers worked with activist groups within the different immigrant communities to find people to talk to. The researchers said the English word "discrimination" was a problem because it does not always mean the same thing in different cultures and languages. 17"People aren't sure what that means," Schumacher said. She added that they might use different words, "or they say something that maybe we as researchers would say, 'Oh, that's discrimination,' but they call it bullying or someone just being mean." 18To deal with possible miscommunication, researchers asked direct questions to identify experiences that they defined as discrimination. They did this even if the survey subject did not call the experience "discrimination." For example, the researcher might ask: "Have you ever been not paid for all the hours you've worked?" "Have you been harassed or threatened or been told to go back to your country?" 19I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 20Dora Mekouar reported this story for Voice of America. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English. 21_________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23challenge - n. a difficult task or problem 24opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done 25forefront - n. the most important part or position 26insurance - n. an agreement in which a person pays a company regularly so that the company will pay for part of, for example, a health care cost later on 27talk down to -v. (phrasal) to speak as though you are talking to a young child when you are not talking to a young child 28bully - v. to try to force people to do things by making threats 29harassed - v. to annoy or bother (someone) in a repeated way over a period of time