Gender, social network geographies, and low-wage employment among recent Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles

This article explores gender differences in the characteristics, spatiality, and capacities of local social networks and their impacts on the employment of recent Mexican immigrants to Los Angeles. After describing the institutional landscape of the regional labor market that new entrants must navigate to find work, I turn to unique and detailed data from a randomized household survey of Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles County. I analyze the role of friends, family members, and neighbors in shaping occupational segregation and hourly earnings of those who migrated to the region during the preceding 5 years. Results suggest that local social networks operate differently for men and women and tend to reinforce differences in mobility and employment. This research contributes both empirically and theoretically to literature on immigrant economic integration by showing how uneven urban labor markets are constituted spatially through gendered networks that connect workers differently to homes, communities, and work places.