Bound by inequality: The social capital of older Asians and Latinos in Phoenix,Arizona

Abstract

This paper investigates how every day interactions within senior centers may be conducive to the generation of social capital that seniors can tap into, and how the creation of social capital is shaped by the social positions and physical location of the individuals involved. Based on 22 in-depth interviews and 15 months of field observations at two centers in Phoenix, one serving Asians and the other Latinos, we find that the presence of seniors in socially advantageous positions facilitates the flow of beneficial resources for other seniors. Seeming ethnic differences in the generation of social capital actually stem from the interaction of other forms of capital and the structure of opportunities for different groups, reflecting broader patterns in the reproduction of inequality. These observations may be policy-relevant with regard to the allocation of public resources in the face of fiscal crises.

Keywords

aging immigrants resource flow social capital social network senior center Asian Latina/o volunteering work older population

Introduction

Despite a growing interest in both immigration and aging, with few exceptions (see Treas and Mazumdar, 2004) the scholarship on aging immigrants is scant. Treas and Mazumdar’s study examining the conditions of older immigrants who migrate to the United States to be close to their children and grandchildren has been followed by similar work focusing on older individuals who migrate to join younger generations of their families (see Gilbertson, 2009). These studies consistently report the difficulty of older immigrants in adjusting to a new environment and their lack of social connections outside of the family (Menjívar, 2000). Although the mismatch between cultural expectations about elderly care and structural constraints that older immigrants and their children face may prevent the younger generation from fulfilling family obligations (Menjívar, 2000), a common thread in this scholarship is the contribution of the older immigrants to their families, through assistance with childcare and household chores, while in turn receiving room and board as well as the non-material assistance of companionship and counsel.

This article focuses on older Asian and Latino immigrants in the Phoenix metropolitan area who frequent two highly ethnically clustered senior centers, where a dominant ethnic minority group is present.¹ We compare and contextualize these experiences in order to understand the potential importance of shared ethnicity for accessing resources. Ethnically clustered senior centers provide fertile ground to compare social capital generation across ethnic groups. We explore how social networks among co-ethnics can generate social capital, turning into assets, and how the absence of certain characteristics can obstruct the generation of beneficial social capital in a co-ethnic network. We take a close look into each senior center and in doing so unravel key features of the seniors’ backgrounds that account for the apparent relationship between ethnicity and social capital generation.

We find that older immigrants from favorable social positions, shaped by other forms of capital generated by social class and work history in skilled jobs, serve as bridges that connect seniors to resources outside of the centers.² The presence of seniors with contacts outside of senior centers through volunteering or paid work enables others who may lack such contacts to also access these external resources. A shared ethnicity, language, and migration history provide opportunities for bonding among seniors of the same ethnicity, who are then connected to broader sources of support by better-positioned bridges. We explore, through an in-depth examination into everyday interactions of seniors, how other forms of capital, signaled by the accumulated benefits of advantageous social positions, shape the nature of social networks and how this can generate social capital in old age. Even though on the surface ethnicity may seem to mold the dynamics of social networks at each center and the sharp differences between the two in how they generate social capital, we find that social class, current work, and work history play a key role.

Families, networks and resources

Studies focusing on older immigrants have examined multigenerational relationships within households and families and reported the importance of caregiving that is coordinated transnationally (Da, 2003; Smith, 2002; Gilbertson, 2009). Some studies show that grandparents care for grandchildren when they come to join their adult children in the United States (Treas and Mazumdar, 2004; Baldassar, 2007). Other research observes that grandparents remain in the origin country and serve as anchors of a homeland and of ethnic values for their grandchildren (Smith, 2002). These studies tend to focus on interdependencies across generations.

But immigrant families are not always mutually dependent across generations. Lamb (2009) reported that some older immigrants ‘value independence and self-sufficiency, and are averse to being “burdens” on their children.’ (Lamb, 2009: 213). Instead of relying on family members, they seek Supplementary Security Income (SSI) and other public programs for older adults. Since public program assistance is not enough to guarantee independent living, many seniors still need financial support from family and relatives. Lamb’s study (2009) suggests that longer exposure to life in the United States encourages older immigrants to seek independent living. Additionally, Facio (1996) reports that older Chicanas adjust to new family roles resulting from separation from spouses and family members due to migration, death, and divorce by shifting family structures to more fluid chains of relationships through which they receive both emotional and material support. These studies guide us to explore how older immigrants who have spent considerable time in the United States fulfill their needs through community participation.

Resources within the family

Racial and ethnic variations in access to resources have been widely studied. Studies show that Asian immigrants are emotionally and financially more self-reliant and able to draw resources from wider ties, making them less dependent on intergenerational kin networks (Rao et al., 1990; Hao, 2003, 2007; Wong et al., 2005; Turney and Kao, 2009). Conversely, Latinos, particularly Mexicans, have been found to rely more on kin networks as they tend to be more isolated, lacking connections to mainstream individuals and institutions (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Schweizer et al., 1998; Lin et al., 2001). Faced with less access to mainstream resources, Latino immigrants tend to rely on family- and kin-related ties for resources (Baca Zinn and Wells, 2000; Mindel, 1980; Mui and Kang, 2006; Keefe and Padilla, 1987). Some studies, however, report decreased exchanges among Latino families when socioeconomic conditions and resources are limited (Menjívar, 2000; Roschelle, 1997; Eggebeen, 1992; Lee and Aytac, 1998; Spreitzer et al., 1996). Adult children may simply lack adequate means to support aging parents despite co-residence (Turney and Kao, 2009); thus, they may expect more governmental support than assistance from family and kin (Crouch, 1972; Domínguez and Watkins, 2003).

These results suggest that Asian and Latino immigrants may not benefit equally from family and non-family resources. Limited English proficiency among older immigrants precludes them from accessing a wider array of social connections from which they could draw resources (Menjívar, 2000). Thus, a common language and shared migration experience may play a significant role in how older immigrants engage in relationships to obtain resources outside the family. With the contraction of public funds and fewer financial allocations for social services, informal exchanges beyond the family may compensate for the increasingly limited public support and declining family resources brought about by the recession. Ties beyond the family may also help older immigrants navigate the complexities of bureaucracies and gain access to ever tightening public assistance (Epstein, 2011).

Social network and social capital

Social capital is defined as the ‘ability to gain access to resources by virtue of membership in networks or larger social structures’ (Portes, 2010: 27), which only exists in relationships among individuals and small groups (Portes, 2010), and is also intangible (Bourdieu, 1980; Coleman, 1988). Ties that generate social capital are based on trust and cooperation deriving from a shared history and life situations (Coleman, 1988; Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993). Thus, shared adversity readies the emergence of a tight network of people who share the same experiences, creating bounded solidarity, or bonding, while excluding ‘outsiders’ (Portes, 2010; Wuthnow, 2002).

Sociologists have explored the importance of network structure and the strength and weakness of social ties in the generation of social capital as well as differences in function (Granovetter, 1985; Lin et al., 2001), or whether social capital provides help to ‘get by’ or ‘to get ahead’ (Dominguez, 2010; Domínguez and Watkins, 2003; Elliott et al., 2010). The presence of close-knit ties such as family and kin represents a source of viable social capital that puts benefits within reach of disfranchised communities (Hao, 1995; Gold, 1995; Zhou and Bankston, 1996). While Lin, Ensel, and Vaugh (1981) suggest the importance of dense networks and strong ties, others claim that the presence of weak ties (Granovetter, 1985) and ‘structural holes’ (Burt, 1992) are critical in increasing one’s potential returns on social capital. Like Granovetter (1985) and Burt (1992), Wuthnow (2002) argues that bridging is a key ingredient for maximizing the generation of social capital. Unlike bonding, which is derived from close ties within a particular group, bridging is based on less intimate relationships that link to heterogeneous groups and increase the network’s mutiplexity in Boissevain’s (1974) conceptualization.

Furthermore, scholars have added the dimension of space and physical location (see Elliott et al., 2010). Fernandez-Kelly (1994) argues that social networks and social capital are toponimical, that is, they are influenced by the physical environment in which individuals spend the majority of their time, which intersects with class, race, and gender. Place-bound social networks may be effective among those with access, but potentially harmful to those who have little access beyond their immediate physical environment (Wacquant and Wilson, 1992). A dependence on equally underprivileged kin and friends, though abundant in strong ties (Stack, 1974), may therefore obstruct the generation of social capital with currency in the larger society (Wacquant and Wilson, 1992). Examining the context in which each childcare facility in his study was set as well as each center’s organizational structure, Small (2009) explores how social capital is generated in particular organizational settings, and whether the organization itself may be a viable broker to connect clients to resources and opportunities in society.

Taking into account variation by social class, some scholars argue that social capital is more easily generated among middle and upper socioeconomic classes (Putnam, 2000; Wuthnow, 1998). Elliott, Haney, and Sams-Abiodun (2010) highlight the importance of the heterogeneity of individuals’ social position in a particular context, as it differentiates the level of available links to those outside of a tight knit community based on bonding social capital (Aldrich, 2011). And Domínguez and Watkins (2003) note that the size and heterogeneity of social networks affect the capability of individuals to treat certain contacts as support for daily survival or leverage to get ahead.

Overall, the extant literature suggests that in addition to the potential benefits of a shared ethnicity (e.g. common language, migration experience, and minority status in the host society), there are other factors which shape older immigrants’ social networks. Building on these theoretical strands, we examine comparatively the social ties and benefits that individuals accrue through them in two ethnically distinct senior centers, focusing on how the social position of the individual members shapes the generation of social capital. Cognizant that race and ethnicity can result in network homophily (McPherson et al., 2001), our work reveals additional attributes that can shape the potential for a network to generate social capital, including the physical environment and the broader context where individuals congregate. Thus, even though we compare two ethnically homogeneous centers and find differences in the social capital they generate and such differences can easily be attributed to ethnicity, we identify the effect of social markers beyond ethnicity, such as social class and the cumulative effects of education and work history, on network dynamics and social capital generation. We show that apparent differences by ethnicity in fact are tied to other dimensions of disadvantage that accumulate over the life course and reproduce inequalities. The strength of our study rests in exploring how exchanges, guided by individual attributes, past experiences and context, interact to facilitate or hinder the flow of resources among older immigrants, thereby channeling the experiences of senior center participants in two dissimilar trajectories.

Data and methods

The present study was carried out in two senior centers, You yi and La Amistad, located in Phoenix, Arizona.³ Senior centers became established as a result of the Older Americans Act of 1965. Today, there are approximately 15,000 senior centers in the US that serve 15 percent of the older population aged 60 years and over (about 10 million people). Many centers are supported by government and local non-profit organizations, while others receive funds from organizations such as the YMCA, United Way, and Catholic Charities. The nature of a senior center varies according to the funding source but, as a general definition, a senior center is ‘a community focal point where older adults come together for services and activities that reflect their experiences and skills, respond to their diverse needs and interests, enhance their dignity, support their independence, and encourage their involvement in and with the center and the community’ (The National Institute of Senior Centers). However, most senior centers are multi-purpose in function, offering nutritional, health and wellness, financial, social recreational, cultural, educational, and referral programs and services (Beisgen and Kraitchman, 2003; Turner, 2004).

You yi serves a mostly Asian population and La Amistad caters to a predominantly Latino community. These centers were selected based on three criteria to ensure comparability. First, the center had to serve a predominantly immigrant population. This was assessed by the type of services offered at the center (e.g. English language class and citizenship classes) and confirmed by social workers during the first phase of study. Second, the center had to have the presence of at least one dominant ethnic group: Chinese or Mexican (although there were some seniors from other ethnic groups at each center). Third, the center had to be one of the 15 senior centers supervised by the City of Phoenix to control for the effect of the macro context and the effects of funding sources. These parameters ensured that we would focus on older immigrants who frequent comparable centers. Except for the factors that we argue account for the variation observed in the social networks at each center, both centers are comparable.

The data were collected through ethnographic observations and formal in-depth interviews. After having been granted permission to conduct research from both City of Phoenix officials and the Institutional Review Board of our university, Fukui undertook ethnographic observations for a period of 15 months, from September 2010 through December 2011, at both senior centers. She spent approximately seven hours in the field per visit every week, which included participation in activities, attending English as Second Language classes, playing lotería,⁴ and dancing as well as dining, listening to presentations and singers, or simply chatting with seniors. Since both centers were short of staff, Fukui began to volunteer in the kitchen after obtaining a food server certificate from the county’s environmental services department. She also accompanied seniors to their homes, and to grocery stores, pharmacies, clinics, and the nursing homes they frequented. Although formal in-depth interviews were conducted, following ethnographic tradition, many key insights and information for this article came from informal conversations and interactions with seniors during the time spent at the centers.

Given Fukui’s involvement with the seniors at both centers, we find it useful to provide some information about her as her social characteristics shaped her interactions with the seniors. She is of Asian origin, in her early 30 s, born abroad and a graduate student at the time of fieldwork. Although she is Asian in panethnic terms, she is not Chinese like the majority of seniors at You yi. It is difficult to consider all the possible influences of her social position on her interactions with the seniors, but the fact that she was much younger than the seniors stimulated their curiosity (in both centers) and facilitated interactions with both groups of seniors.

Although the bulk of the information was collected through observation and informal conversations during ethnographic field work, a total of 22 formal in-depth interviews were conducted in English at the centers. Fifteen interviews were digitally recorded, and seven were completed by taking written notes as per interviewee’s preference. Of the 22 in-depth interviews, 12 came from You yi and 10 from La Amistad; 12 with females, and 10 with males; two were in their 90 s, two in their 80 s, 14 in their 70 s and four in their 60 s. The length of stay in the United States of those interviewed varied greatly, especially at You yi. Although most of the in-depth interview participants have been living in the United States for more than 20 years, You yi has a relatively higher number of recent arrivals, while the participants at La Amistad had been in the United States longer. Most of them came in their late teens or early adulthood with the exception of one woman who arrived within the past 10 years to join her family. All interviewed seniors at You yi had at least some postsecondary education and had held professional jobs, such as pilot, nurse, physician, and teacher. In contrast, at La Amistad few members had finished high school and many had worked in what are called ‘unskilled’ jobs. Many had helped their parents in farm or janitorial work, while some had held factory jobs. These occupations reflect an intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. Among both groups, the adult children of the seniors were working in similar jobs; there were accountants and legal professionals among the children of the seniors at You yi, and carpenters and gardeners among the children of the seniors at La Amistad.

Data collected through in-depth interviews and field observations were coded using a list of keywords. Initially, coding was focused on ethnicity and resources. As the coding progressed, themes which identified the social positions of individuals such as education, work history and status, and age emerged. Although there were stark variations between the two centers, we identified in addition to ethnicity other factors, such as socioeconomic status and work history, as shaping in important ways the generation and flow of resources at each center.

Cumulative advantages and disadvantages at senior centers

Throughout the day, both English and the dominant language of the respective center, Spanish at La Amistad and Chinese at You yi, are used. On a normal day at You yi, seniors arrive by private cars, city transit, or commuter vans arranged by the center. Others are dropped off by family members on their way to work. The morning starts with greetings as they sign in and make a ‘donation’ of $2.50 for lunch. After getting settled for the day, seniors engage in various activities. Some begin independent activities such as reading, reviewing for English class, working on the computer, or exercising. Still others speak with social workers or meet with friends and play ping-pong or bowling on the Wii. The seniors have preferred tables where they try to sit on each visit. Some prefer to sit alone or with neighbors and friends. Others sit with those who share one or more of the following factors: marital status, language, dialect, level of English proficiency and adaptation to US lifestyle, region of origin, or the socioeconomic status of their children. Older seniors who are in their mid-80 s and above spend most of their day at one place, while those in their 60 s and early 70 s prefer to wander around the center, chat, or participate in educational or recreational activities.

At La Amistad, seniors usually arrive individually. While some are dropped off by a family member, most arrive by foot. Gender informs how the seniors seat themselves for the day, with the men sitting in the back where domino games take place, and the women in the front, where they knit and sew. Gender mixing tends to occur on rare occasions, sometimes while playing lotería, when socializing on the front porch, or when conversations are initiated by non-Latino males or females. Since the majority live in the neighborhood, the center and its yard are like an extension of their homes and fellow seniors as their family, where they break piñatas for celebrations, smoke a cigarette on the front porch, and dine and relax inside. The center is busier in the early morning on hot summer days and less so as the weather becomes cooler. This may be largely due to the fact that many of the seniors’ homes lack air conditioning, a necessity for a Phoenix summer.

At La Amistad, the seniors are less active and the participation in dance and craft classes remains low. The centers are required to report estimates of participants in these programs as well as ‘lunch leftovers’ to the city, and these reports are considered in evaluating the centers’ efficiency. Thus, social workers make efforts to encourage seniors to participate in these programs since the lack of significant participation jeopardizes their center’s future budgets, especially when fiscal constraints dictate the life of the programs.

Considering the importance of the social positions of the seniors and their role in shaping available resources at the center, seniors’ past and present experiences outside the center become critical. You yi has a range of self-generating resources that can transfer effectively to the larger society, but this is not the case at La Amistad. Also, there are seniors who encourage other seniors to join these classes at both centers, but the turnout is vastly different between the two centers. The seniors at You yi come from both high and low socioeconomic standings, various regions of origin (which include some from outside of the main ethnic group), and with different migration and work histories; networks at this center exhibit high multiplexity (see Boissevain, 1974). At You yi, despite the ethnic cluster, the seniors’ socioeconomic heterogeneity is key in shaping how they interact with each other as well as how they are connected to people and organizations outside of the center. For instance, the presence of people like John, a former employee at an organization that assists with refugee resettlement, is critical. John and others who have worked in the United States would show up to classes and engage in various activities while encouraging others to join. John shared his reasons for participating as follows:

When I was working, I came across our clients complaining that their neighbor is receiving more [financial support] than them. Many times. This was a challenge because I needed to tell them that the policy had changed for the newer arrivals. But the thing is, they were still receiving support from the government when some of my immigrant friends were really struggling. I was very frustrated at first. It’s amazing people just bitch about things, but then what could I do? I was just an employee. So now, I try to do what I can. Showing up to the events and try to invite my friends too. It’s important to do that … or bye-bye to those classes and this food.

Individuals like John act as ‘bridges’ at You yi and they remind others that these services cannot be taken for granted and that their participation is important for keeping the center resources abundant. Due to their former and ongoing affiliations to organizations beyond You yi, these seniors understand the challenges that social workers face and are able to work with them for the overall benefit of the senior center community, and perhaps due to their respected social positions at the center, other seniors seem to follow their example.

Conversely, seniors at La Amistad share, in addition to ethnicity, a largely homogeneous socioeconomic background and a history of on and off working-class jobs, long-term residence in subsidized housing, and a high prevalence of disability, resulting in limited mobility. Furthermore, in contrast to You yi, almost all the participants at La Amistad are retired. Similarly, resource poor seniors and an absence of ‘bridges’ make it more challenging for social workers at La Amistad to convey the importance of participation in activities to the seniors there. The individuals who would lead classes utilizing their skills gained from previous work are also in short supply at La Amistad. In contrast, at You yi, there are several, including Betty, a former teacher, who leads Cantonese class.

Such opportunities hardly exist at La Amistad, limiting seniors to their known circle of peers. The more homogeneous social location of seniors at La Amistad when compared to the more heterogeneous position of those at You yi makes a key difference in the social capital generated at the two centers (see also Aldrich, 2011; Elliott et al., 2010).

Building on the theoretical insights of the literature summarized earlier, we examine the two aspects commonly distinguished in investigations of social capital generation – bonding and bridging – but we focus on the mechanisms shaped by the cumulative effects of social class advantage (or disadvantage). Bonding and bridging are conceptual tools we use to better understand the social network and resource flow at the senior centers but it is an ideal type and, depending on which factors we focus on, an example of bonding can also be interpreted as one of bridging. Because we initially set up the study to focus on ethnicity, we analyzed bonding relative to ethnic clustering while bridging was leveraged on other demographics. By shedding light on how the social positions of the seniors and the accumulation of other forms of capital shape the generation of social capital among these groups, we hope to contribute to a discussion of the generation of social capital as linked to the reproduction of inequalities and the resultant importance for public policy debates.

Bonding: Relationships within the senior center

Generation of knowledge and relationships at the senior centers

At You yi, many members volunteer for activities, including collecting lunch donations, helping in the kitchen, teaching languages, translating, and a myriad other duties. And volunteers are easy to find. Social workers request people for certain volunteer positions, usually based on language proficiency and the occupational or educational experience of the seniors.

One day, after lunch when many had left the center, two women were examining documents in Chinese. Mary Anne, a former physician from Shanghai in her mid-70 s who often volunteers to accompany other seniors to hospital appointments despite the inconvenience of using public transportation, was asking questions and carefully taking notes. Earlier, in an informal conversation, she had talked about her background as a physician, and said that although she was unable to practice medicine in the United States, she was able to identify basic symptoms and make referrals to appropriate physicians. Furthermore, she frequently writes a health column in a local Chinese language newspaper⁵ to inform co-ethnics about basic symptoms and the prevention of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and frailty in old age due to osteoporosis.

Mary Anne is not an exception at You yi. There are several similar ‘key persons’ (bridges) who are former physicians, teachers, entrepreneurs, and wives of retired diplomats and professors. These individuals are treated with respect and are very approachable and sympathetic to the needs of others. Given their past work experience in professional jobs, they tend to take on administrative or leadership positions as volunteers. Most are in their 70 s to early 80 s and physically active. Their adult children often are also professionals. These older immigrants were either sponsored by their children or came to study in the United States and remained. Their children live all over the United States. Even if their children live in Phoenix, however, it is important to note that these seniors tend to live independently or with a spouse.

In contrast, the members who volunteer at La Amistad are rarely involved in administrative activities and social workers find it difficult to find volunteers. Volunteers at La Amistad primarily serve meals and distribute food from the surplus programs⁶ and tend to engage in work that requires little leadership or skills that come from previous professional experience, such as planning, organizing, and negotiating. This may be a reflection of the modest educational level of the seniors at La Amistad and their scant work experience in jobs requiring managerial skills. The few volunteers had held jobs as correction officers, servers at restaurants, and one was an artist.

At You yi, there seems to be a conscious effort among seniors to initiate social groups, and social workers approach those with the talent or skills to organize these groups. Information about skills is asked when the individual first registers at the center and is continually updated. Seniors are also nominated and often nominate themselves for jobs. At La Amistad, in contrast, social workers mentioned multiple times that the center was ‘more needy’ than others, and that the relatively higher average age of the seniors there was a reason for the higher levels of need. However, other comments from social workers and from some seniors themselves provide a different picture, pointing to low education and literacy levels as the main reasons for the perceived ‘high level of need’. Although not involving higher levels of education, seniors at La Amistad do engage in many group activities. Men play dominos, and women form small groups for embroidery, knitting, and jewelry making. Many of these activities are organized by the seniors themselves and provide an opportunity for them to interact and to form bonds and friendships. Seniors at You yi also organize themselves into groups which strengthen bonds and facilitate the flow of resources. But the more heterogeneous social positions of the seniors at You yi allowed for a broader range of resources to flow in. Additionally, whereas at You yi some seniors continue to hold paid jobs outside the home or are looking for work, most members at La Amistad have permanently left the labor force. One social worker stated:

Many people here think they have done their share of service in the past. These are people who worked all their lives, you see, in the field, around the house, in the kitchen of restaurants … you name it. I mean they worked hard, scraping floors and tables. So, working in the kitchen at the center is probably the last thing that they want … and, they expect people to serve them in old age.

According to a senior, only a handful of seniors from La Amistad attend the annual volunteer appreciation gala.⁷ In order to attend the gala, a senior must have accumulated at least 40 hours of volunteer work at the center, and it is always the same few from La Amistad who attend the event. To encourage seniors to engage in volunteer activities, and thereby qualify, photos from the gala are posted at the center and the event is occasionally mentioned in announcements made during the busiest hours of the day.

The seniors at La Amistad are also less physically active than those at You yi, a situation that can potentially limit engagement with other seniors and undermine bonding. As Rubia shared, ‘It’s nice to see everyone’s face when I come in, but I just sit here in my usual place every day. Have you met Julita [a senior volunteer at the center]? She is a darling and brings lunch to my table. She brings others like me who can’t really move their plate too.’ Many sit at their own table all day long. As a result, the reduced mobility of these seniors precludes them from socializing with those not already seated at the same table. This resulting social isolation is related to their physical condition, which in turn is linked to a life time of physical labor largely without health insurance and proper care, which then affects their long-term health. Their physical limitations therefore significantly limit their ability to bond with others at the center, a reflection of the La Amistad seniors’ cumulative disadvantage. Also, reduced mobility increases the responsibility on the individuals who are mobile, such as Julita, to not only serve others but also to bridge across tables in order for resources to flow and circulate at the center.

Limitations on physical ability intensify the challenges already existing due to the seniors’ socioeconomic disadvantage at La Amistad. There are some older seniors who are physically frail at You yi, but they are significantly outnumbered by the younger and very active members. The active seniors often are former professionals with knowledge on how to access health care, engage in regular exercise, obtain regular check-ups, and information about a nutritional diet. This knowledge (and experiences) comes from an advantageous socioeconomic standing and diverse life styles, largely educational level and work experience, which shapes the nature of the dissimilar bonding in the two centers. Furthermore, bonding at La Amistad occurs at a table level, usually among a group of three to four people with similar socioeconomic backgrounds who regularly sit together. In contrast, bonding at You yi takes place in a more diverse fashion, in the ESL classroom, at lunch sessions organized outside the center, or at numerous other functions, such as performing in a chorus group at a local school, which often involves a large number of individuals. Thus, although bonding occurs in both places, the heterogeneous social position of the seniors at You yi and their higher physical mobility create opportunities to convert these other forms of advantage into beneficial social capital.

Circulation of information

Viable information is key and informal conversations based on personal experiences can be converted into a useful resource. At You yi, Grace and Cindy, both in their 60 s, read through the local Chinese language newspaper and quickly move to the last page, where there are advertisements of professional services: lawyers, accountants, architects, and realtors. Grace points out a lawyer and gives Fukui unsolicited advice, noting that if she wants to get her green card quickly she should see this attorney. Grace, who had spent some time in Brazil, mentioned that she had to travel back and forth between Phoenix and Rio de Janeiro in order for her visa to be processed. She said that for years she had paid large fees to different attorneys hoping to receive permanent residency, and soon after switching to this lawyer she received her green card. On different occasions others at You yi shared similar experiences. A green card signifies permanent residence, which allows individuals to travel outside the country, work legally in the United States and, after a minimum of five years, become eligible for subsidized housing and social welfare. It is also a path to citizenship. Thus, information about permanent legal residency and tips for acquiring it are critical resources for all immigrants.

In contrast to the opportunities for beneficial exchanges at You yi, the exchanges at La Amistad do not seem to put resources within the reach of the seniors. During visits to La Amistad, seniors occasionally asked Fukui for her assistance. Fabiana, a naturalized US citizen in her 80 s from Mexico, requested help in filling out her ballot for an upcoming election. Although well integrated with other female seniors and social workers at the center, she felt there was no other person from whom she could seek advice. Social workers always seemed to be very busy sending in daily reports to the city, welcoming the occasional ‘visitors’ and ‘guest lecturers’ and managing the needs of the seniors by referring them to clinics and local agencies that deal with housing and social welfare programs, activities that further signaled the seniors’ socioeconomically disadvantaged position. In several urgent incidents, the social workers drove the seniors to appropriate places to obtain care. Still, the overworked social workers usually felt that they were underserving seniors.

On another occasion at La Amistad, Diana, a Latina in her 90 s, approached Fukui with several letters asking if she should mail the letters which had bold printing indicating that she had just won $2,000,000. There was also fine print indicating that the money would be hers upon sending a check for $25.00. She mentioned that if she could get all that money by simply sending in a check for such a small amount, maybe she should do so. Diana said a friend had received similar letters, and they were both discussing what to do. Fukui informed her that the letters were most likely a scam and strongly recommended not sending a check. A lack of well-positioned and well-informed contacts has the potential to not only hinder beneficial links to the broader society, but also to systematically confine people to disadvantageous conditions and reproducing inequalities. Such seemingly individual, perhaps isolated, instances of disadvantage are expressions of the particular social milieu in which some individuals live and the networks and informal ties which are created in those conditions. These instances illustrate the accumulation of disadvantage tied to multiple social positions that affect all vulnerable individuals who are members of the same social circle. Developing strong bonds, therefore, can be detrimental to a group of individuals who are limited in resources and lack individual sources of leverage (see Menjívar, 2000).

Bridging: Work and volunteering outside of the senior center

The exchanges that take place at the centers and the benefits they can bring to participants are important, but only show a partial picture of how resources flow within the centers themselves. Such exchanges are profoundly shaped by dynamics outside of the centers, and therefore it is necessary to explore activities such as paid work and volunteer activities in which seniors engage outside the centers. As seniors remain in the labor force for longer periods of time or engage in volunteering work, they bring these experiences to the centers and influence the resources that flow within the centers. Furthermore, some of these external links are cultivated in earlier stages of the life course, and in old age contribute to diversify the realms in which individuals participate. This examination highlights the toponimical aspect of social capital (see Fernandez-Kelly, 1994), as well as the influence of social position based on class, age, and race on the formation of social capital (see Elliott et al., 2010).

Recent studies show increased labor force participation among the older population, which is attributed to financial uncertainties resulting from reductions in employer contribution plans and an overall gloomy economic outlook (Munnell and Sundén, 2004) and to changes in eligibility for Social Security benefits (Gustman and Steinmeier, 2009). Thus, there has been a general shift in work-related expectations and behavior with more retirement-age individuals remaining in the labor force (National Institute on Aging, 2007). The seemingly larger portion of seniors currently working or looking for work at You yi than at La Amistad may be due to the relatively younger age of those at You yi. The ‘young old’, who are more represented at You yi, tend to be more physically active and do not yet qualify for full Social Security benefits.

Among the You yi seniors in the study who are still active in the labor force, their work histories include ‘stay at home’ women who never previously worked for pay outside the home, to working at a family business catering mostly to co-ethnics, and professionals such as those in teaching, legal and financial services, and real estate. Work outside the home for these seniors brings financial benefits, eliminates boredom, and presents opportunities to meet others. These are arguably resources which seniors can access and accumulate through paid work. Work in old age, however, also represents a physical burden and a decrease in leisure time. Whether paid or voluntary, it is important to note the types of jobs that the study participants take, especially in relation to those held in earlier years, since these jobs determine the pool of resources available and shape the meaning of current work status, that is, whether current employment is a financial necessity or considered a leisure activity. The majority of jobs that seniors with lower educational levels in the labor force hold are not white collar; they are labor intensive and crucial for self-support or to maintain independence. However, this is not the case for those who had a professional career because these seniors have more options in old age: whether or not to work, and if they decide to work, a greater choice in the type of jobs available and/or how much they wish to work. And their financial situation tends to be more stable since many have sufficient savings, and if they continue working in old age, they tend to have more flexible schedules and a certain degree of autonomy. It is noteworthy that work outside the home, whether paid or voluntary, allows opportunities for interactions with others and the resources obtained through such interactions can then be brought to the center.

We identify three types of work among our study participants that are relevant for the generation of social capital: current work with pay, history of work experience with pay, and volunteer work.

Seniors made important contacts in their earlier work experience which can later be tapped into in times of need. They also learned the ‘culture’ of organizations, and how to work with bureaucracies and businesses. Each work setting and occupation has its culture, and the level of autonomy and authority varies. For instance, a work history that includes jobs in bureaucratic settings can translate into relevant knowledge about how to maneuver the application process for medical benefits and insurance today. These experiences provide seniors with tools to navigate the complex systems of medical and welfare bureaucracies. Through earlier exposure to organizational structures they become better informed about constraints and options and in general about various aspects of life. In turn, the presence of these seniors, or ‘bridges’, at the centers becomes a critical resource for others who may have limited experience in areas requiring organizational knowledge. These ‘bridges’ often act as advocates, mobilize resources, organize the others, and even negotiate with service providers on various issues relevant to the livelihood of the seniors (DeFilippis, 2001; Dow, 1999).⁸

The presence of older immigrants who continue to be active in the labor force creates channels which can transmit job-related information potentially beneficial to other seniors. In addition to information associated with job opportunities, these seniors can cultivate critical links to others for information, knowledge, and resources that are not directly related to jobs, but that come from knowledge gained in work settings. These include knowledge about better insurance and medical care as well as financial resources for emergencies.

The third type of work identified outside the home is volunteering in the community, which offers further exposure to contacts in the wider society. Robert, a Taiwanese immigrant in his late 70 s at You yi, mentioned that he volunteers with the Phoenix Symphony and also at the airport and a public library. Other seniors at You yi are interested in learning about different volunteer opportunities available in Phoenix, and John shares information when asked. He said that his passion for classical music led him to volunteer at the symphony as he is not only able to listen to the concert on the days he volunteers but is also able to invite a guest on occasion.

It’s a great deal. You can attend concerts by your favorite composers, and you can also share the memorable time with people who also enjoy just by ushering for a few hours. There is little commitment in advance. I simply need to sign up for the days I can and want to volunteer. I am a single guy with a lot of time, so sometimes if they have few people, they will call me and ask me to help out. I don’t have much to do at home so it’s easy. I say, ‘sure’ and I see folks at the concert. There is always someone willing to help and I like that. It’s simple and it’s rewarding.

As volunteering in general attracts middle to upper middle class Americans (Rotolo et al., 2010; Wilson, 2000), the friendships that John, a ‘bridge’, develops in such settings further connect seniors to other, wider, circles with varying resources. These individuals then become potential contacts for fellow co-ethnics.

Conversely, at La Amistad, Fukui rarely met seniors who were in the labor force or volunteering outside of the center. The seniors at La Amistad are generally older than those at You yi, do not have enough savings, and most live on limited budgets in subsidized housing. Although income from work would be valuable, a long history of physically demanding jobs has taken its toll on these seniors’ health. Many had worked in the fields as children and continued to work in labor intensive industries such as food service, janitorial, construction, and gardening. The exceptions are two former city employers who, although highly respected, are now too frail to actively take part in activities.⁹

Thus, those who do volunteer at La Amistad rarely become ‘bridges’. Several seniors are involved in a dance group that performs in neighborhood events. Laura drives 40 minutes to the center from another city to do beading because she enjoys sharing her love of the craft. This is not a formal class and Laura brings her own materials; she is happy to help those who are interested. Her interest in beading connects her as an individual to beading groups and shops in the community. However, given her position, she is not able to bring other senior members from the center to the community or to provide them with practical information and skills that are beneficial in their daily lives, as observed among the ‘bridges’ of You yi.

Without access to others through places of paid or voluntary work, the lives of seniors at La Amistad are limited to their immediate group and the neighborhood. Furthermore, since few own a car, they have limited ability to offer rides to other seniors or to venture out on their own. A limited opportunity structure throughout their lives continues to restrict them in old age. These seniors often asked Fukui to take them grocery shopping, to clinics, or to run other errands, including visits to city hall to pay bills. This contrasts sharply with You yi, where seniors instead offered the researcher a ride on several occasions to join them on shopping trips.

Discussion and conclusion

Our findings show that, compared to Latinos, Asian seniors seem more self-reliant and better able to draw resources from a wider array of non-kin networks. This contrasting scenario would lead us to conclude that the different ethnicities of the seniors may explain the dissimilarities in the circulation of resources found in the two senior centers. A closer look, however, reveals that behind these apparent ethnic differences in the generation of social capital, there are important variations by social position, including the socioeconomic background of the seniors, education, and past and present work experience outside the home. Seniors at You yi are generally better educated, with a handful of highly educated former professionals and entrepreneurs. Not all seniors at You yi are college educated or hold managerial jobs. As a matter of fact, there is a larger proportion of seniors at You yi who are linguistically more isolated from society than those at La Amistad. There is, however, more heterogeneity in social positions at You yi; some seniors there are still in the labor force, others have held white-collar jobs, and several are engaged in volunteering activities. This is not the case at La Amistad. The presence of seniors with varying degrees of human and social capitals enables seniors at You yi to access beneficial information (Small, 2009; Wuthnow, 2002). Seniors from higher socioeconomic backgrounds had more accumulated benefits over their lifetime and currently had access to more resources which they brought to the center to share. Moreover, the educational advantage of some seniors at You yi is reflected in their participation in the labor force, past and present, paid and voluntary, which results in further advantages not only for them as individuals but their very presence enriches the pool of resources for other seniors, in sharp contrast to the seniors at La Amistad.

Despite having lived in the area for many years, the seniors in our study frequent senior centers with a high representation of their co-ethnics. An important difference between the two groups in our study, however, is that one is more resource affluent, and this difference places the two groups in significantly different positions. More seniors at You yi are not only connected to each other (‘bonded’) like those at La Amistad but have the additional advantage of engaging in the labor force or participating in volunteer work which then positions them to become key ‘bridges’ for others. Importantly, not everyone has to be directly involved in work or volunteering, yet the presence of some seniors who do has a significant impact on the available resource at the center which can be tapped into by other affiliated seniors.

Since the seniors at You yi have key members with access to information and resources, they are able to access information related to many areas such as health care, housing assistance, and legalization resources through these key members. Variation by social class and work experience, which serves to diversify the sources of information and resources, places these resources within reach of those who would be unable to reach them on their own. Without the heterogeneity and the presence of key seniors who are effective bridges, the resource flow at You yi would be different, perhaps similar to that of La Amistad. Our findings parallel those from Small’s (2009) study, which highlighted the bridging aspect of social ties where less privileged individuals gained the most from frequenting childcare centers where users came from diverse backgrounds. Our findings also parallel the observations made by Elliott, Haney, and Sams-Abiodun (2010) regarding the importance of physical space and social location of network members. The cumulative effect of (dis)advantage is powerful, placing the two groups studied in very different trajectories even though they are both composed of immigrants who frequent similar publicly-funded centers administered by the same city.

Our study contributes to scholarship in two ways. First, it sheds light on the understudied experiences of older immigrants regarding their labor force participation and civic engagement. Indeed, the daily lives of seniors seem to be organized around their work or volunteer schedules, and this in turn dictates participation in, and shapes what they can bring to, the centers. The importance of conducting ethnographic research among aged populations, especially Asian and Latin American, includes understanding how they perceive and attach meaning to their communities and families, as well as to the larger institutions in society and government. These are the largest immigrant groups arriving to the United States and thus will become a significant part of the aging population (Sadarangani and Jun, 2014). As such, it is imperative that we understand their views, experiences, and how they live in old age.

And second, our work contributes to the scholarship on social capital by examining in-depth the mechanisms behind the bonding and bridging aspects of informal ties of older immigrants, by expanding the analytical lens of social position. Our results shed light on how accumulated disadvantages over a lifetime shape the generation of social capital both at individual level as well as at center level. These observations may also be policy relevant, particularly with regard to how resources are allocated and how populations are served in the face of fiscal crises. Given the limited budgets allocated to senior centers, strategic decisions can be made to create more opportunities for seniors to remain active by volunteering and engaging civically, retrain them for remunerated employment, and support their participation in activities to encourage manageable health. Also by expanding subsidized housing for seniors, they may be able to stay active and lead a life style that permits them to realize their valuable contributions to society. Focusing centrally on older immigrants, groups that have not received focused attention, can lead to relevant policy recommendations on the one hand, and on the other, to a contribution to the literature on immigration (by focusing on older groups) as well as on aging studies (by focusing on immigrants).

Footnotes

Notes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Haruna M. Fukui is a recent PhD in Sociology from the Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on older immigrants and their social networks from a life course perspective. She is interested in the effects of an economy, social welfare policies, and immigration laws on the social networks of immigrants throughout their lives, their cumulative effects in old age, and the intermediate agencies.

Cecilia Menjívar is cowden distinguished professor in the Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She has researched the effects of immigration laws on different aspects of immigrants’ lives, such as family dynamics, the workplace and schools, family separations, educational aspirations, religious participation, and citizenship and belonging. She is the author of multiple books and articles on these topics and her most recent book is the co-edited volume with Daniel Kanstroom, Constructing Illegality: Critiques, Experiences, and Responses (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

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