UC Irvine

Background: Epidemiological evidence has shown that at younger ages immigrant Latina/o/x adults have lower rates of disability relative to white adults and this pattern is reversed later in life. Moreover, gender analyses have suggested that immigrant Latina women have higher rates of disability than immigrant Latino men, white women, and white men. While scholars hypothesize occupational exposures might drive disability patterns, no study has directly assessed the association between occupational exposures and disability among immigrant Latina women. The objective of this dissertation was to assess how work contributes to the disablement of immigrant Latina women across the life course with attention to the role of nativity, race/ethnicity, and gender. Methods: In chapter 2, I use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to estimate women’s age at onset of disability using a survival curve. I examine whether work (e.g., service/labor vs. professional/management) was a significant predictor of disability among women that worked and the moderating effects of race/ethnicity/nativity using a time-to-event analysis. In chapter 3, using HRS data, I use count and multinomial models to examine whether work contributes to the patterning of functional limitations at baseline, changes in limitations over time, and the moderating effects of race/ethnicity/nativity. In chapter 4, I use semi-structured in-depth interviews with immigrant Latina women and labor organizers to assess the mechanisms through which work conditions contribute to the disablement of immigrant Latina women. Results: I find employment in service/labor occupations significantly contributed to the risk of developing disability and experiencing changes in physical functioning over time and might contribute to racial/ethnic and nativity disparities in disability outcomes. I identified occupational segregation, high standards for cleanliness, organizational culture, and shortcoming in health care systems’ responses to women’s injuries as mechanisms that contributed to the disablement of immigrant Latina women. Conclusion: These findings suggest that work is a site that contributes to the early onset of disability among immigrant Latina women working in service industries.