2013 Conference

Financial Services

Financial Services

The collection of accurate financial data is critical to the understanding of financial security.  For immigrant groups who are frequently underrepresented in surveys and more likely to be at-risk economically, the accuracy of financial data is even more important.  Moreover, data on the financial status and public program participation of immigrant families may be used in to inform federal and state policies and influence public opinion.  In addition to the standard methodological challenges associated with surveying hard-to-reach populations, potential immigrant respondents may be particularly sensitive to confidentiality concerns due to fear surrounding documentation status.  Immigrant respondents may also feel increased pressure to provide socially desirable answers as indicators of acculturation.  Survey context may influence an immigrant respondent's willingness to provide accurate information by establishing the comparison group the respondent will be measured against, as well creating a perception of safety and confidentiality (or lack thereof).  This paper examines the effect of survey context by comparing responses on a number of financial indicators between two surveys with different contexts: the 2007 Survey of Income and Program Participation (a national survey that includes a representative sample of immigrants), and the New Immigrant Survey (a survey exclusively examining immigrants).  Data from these surveys are compared to determine if there are differences in the reporting of ownership and allocation to financial assets.  Analyses are conducted to determine the existence and extent of differences in the reporting of several financial indicators including income, retirement account (IRA, Keogh) ownership and transaction account (savings, checking) ownership.  Finally, a measure of federally-funded program participation, the receipt and amount received in food stamps is compared between immigrant respondents in the two surveys.