Legal status is central to understanding the process of immigrant incorporation into the U.S., yet our understanding of how legal status affects labor market outcomes is limited, in part because of data deficiencies. A multi-disciplinary research team led by Mexican economist Graciela Teruel proposes to build on a unique representative panel study of Mexicans who migrated to the U.S. after 2002, the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS). In the baseline survey, adults from about 8,400 households in 150 Mexican communities were interviewed.

Poor health is a barrier to social mobility, and disadvantaged populations are more likely to experience poor health and poor medical care. But the relationship between economic disadvantage and health is complex and the mechanisms that underly health attitudes and behaviors in poor communities are poorly understood. Research designed to explore the mechanisms through which class, race, and gender inequalities shape health experiences and behaviors, and how these are related to poverty and social mobility would further our understanding of the social determinants of health.