The Automobile, Immigrants, and Poverty: Implications for Immigrant Earnings and Job Access

Abstract

There is an implicit, and often explicit, policy view that cities need to provide increased public transit and access to that transportation for low-income and immigrant populations. In this perspective, only by providing increased access to public transit will society overcome the travel problems of these disadvantaged populations. Still, studies of mostly welfare populations have suggested that while public transportation is not unimportant, the automobile is a critical factor in moving from welfare to work. This study extends that work by examining the job access behavior of both the low-income population in general and the foreign-born population in particular. It examines the questions: Does car ownership increase the low-income population's access to employment? And what is the financial benefit for the low-income working population by owning a car? We show that the car provides a real gain for low income and foreign-born populations, but that the gain is not without a potentially wider problem—many poor and foreign-born populations use cars without the full societal costs because large proportions of these populations do not carry automobile insurance.