According to the 2000 Census, more than 30 million immigrants reside in the United States, nearly half of whom entered the country within the last 10 years. Currently, immigrants comprise 11 percent of the population, the highest percentage since 1930. Although immigrant groups have always tended to live in ghettoized clusters, few studies have examined the socioeconomic impact of residential isolation or whether today's immigrant groups are more or less isolated from the native-born population than were early twentieth-century immigrant groups.

Access to and use of financial services can affect a wide range of economic behaviors, including decisions about consumption, saving, home ownership, business formation, investment and retirement. These services have the potential to empower disadvantaged groups and give them greater control over their economic future. However, little is known about the use of financial services among one historically impoverished group - immigrants to the United States. To what extent do they participate in mainstream financial institutions?

New immigrants to the United States bring with them new attitudes about gender roles and the division of labor within the family. Though these cultural differences may translate into new patterns of workforce participation for men and women, until now little research has focused on gender differences in outcomes and rates of assimilation.