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Research Paper

Pulse Points Summer 2024: The Financial Health of Foreign-Born Consumers

How does the financial health of foreign-born consumers compare with those born in the U.S., and how can we set immigrants up for financial success?

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By Angela Fontes, Ph.D., Necati Celik, Ph.D., Kennan Cepa, Ph.D.

Program:

Financial Health Pulse
Category:

Equity, Measurement

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Pulse Points Summer 2024: The Financial Health of Foreign-Born Consumers

Exploring the Diverse Financial Experiences of Foreign-Born Consumers

With an estimated 45 million foreign-born consumers in the U.S., the financial health of immigrants is an important, yet understudied, topic. Immigrants in the U.S. are a diverse group of people, coming from all over the world with different resources and levels of familiarity with our banking system.

In this report, we use 2023 Financial Health Pulse® survey data to document the financial health of foreign- and native-born consumers across different racial and ethnic groups. By exploring heterogeneity in the financial health of foreign-born consumers, we aim to shed light on key opportunities to support the financial health of this vital and diverse community.

What You’ll Learn

Explore the full report for a deep dive into the financial health of foreign- and native-born consumers across different racial and ethnic groups.

Compared with their native-born counterparts, foreign-born Latinx consumers were less frequently Financially Healthy

Foreign-born Latinx consumers less frequently reported being on track to meet long-term financial goals than those born in the U.S.

Latinx immigrants more frequently reported starting or growing a business as one of their top three financial goals

Lower household income may make reaching long-term financial goals difficult for foreign-born Latinx consumers

Data Spotlight

Foreign-born Latinx consumers less frequently reported they were confident they were on track to meet long-term financial goals.

	Latinx		Non-Latinx
	Foreign- born	Native- born	Foreign- born	Native- born
Save
Are confident they are on track to meet long-term financial goals	29%*†	36%	47%*	39%
Have enough savings to cover at least three months of living expenses	48%†	51%†	66%*	57%
N=	296	605	758	6,591

Note: “Thinking about your household’s longer term financial goals such as saving for a vacation, starting a business, buying or paying off a home, saving up for education, putting money away for retirement, or making retirement funds last… How confident are you that your household is currently doing what is needed to meet your longer term goals?” (Response options: Very / moderately / somewhat / slightly / not at all confident) “Very confident” and “moderately confident” are considered as “confident they are on track to meet long-term financial goals.” “At your current level of spending, how long could you and your household afford to cover expenses, if you had to live only off the money you have readily available, without withdrawing money from retirement accounts or borrowing?” (Response options: 6 months or more / 3-5 months / 1-2 months / 1-3 weeks / Less than 1 week) “6 months or more” and “3-5 months” are considered as “enough savings to cover at least three months of living expenses.”
* p < 0.05 for foreign-born Latinx vs. native-born Latinx and foreign-born non-Latinx vs. native-born non-Latinx.
† p < 0.05 for foreign-born Latinx vs. foreign-born non-Latinx and native-born Latinx vs. native-born non- Latinx.

About Our Methodology

Data from this study come from the 2023 Financial Health Pulse® survey. The Financial Health Pulse was fielded to panelists of the probability-based Understanding America Study online panel administered by USC’s Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, allowing the findings to be generalized to the civilian, noninstitutionalized adult population of the United States. The 2023 Financial Health Pulse survey was fielded from April 27, 2023 through June 11, 2023, with 8,655 respondents and a cooperation rate of 69.38% (margin of error +/- 1.05%). For more background on the report’s methodology, please see the full report.

About the Financial Health Pulse^® and Pulse Points

Since 2018, the Financial Health Network has conducted the Financial Health Pulse® research initiative. The Financial Health Pulse combines probability-based, longitudinal survey data with administrative data, with the goal of providing regular updates and actionable insights about the financial lives of Americans.

Pulse Points are short research reports released multiple times a year as part of the Financial Health Pulse research initiative. Pulse Points are designed to explore specific, timely topics related to financial health. To see more of our Financial Health Pulse research, including Pulse Points on student loans, natural disasters, and more, please visit our Pulse Research page.

Endnotes

In this brief, “foreign-born” and “immigrant” are used interchangeably to denote an individual who was born outside of the U.S. and who currently resides in the country, including naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, persons on certain temporary visas, and immigrants who are undocumented.

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