Access to Work: The Effects of Spatial and Social Accessibility on Unemployment for Native-Born Black and Immigrant Women in Los Angeles

This study contributes to the debates on both spatial mismatch and “social-network” mismatch by considering the independent effects of spatial and social accessibility on the unemployment of less-educated native-born black and immigrant women. These groups experience relatively high unemployment yet differ in their residential patterns and the hypothesized capacities of their social networks. Using detailed geographic census data matched to travel data, I calculated an accessibility index to measure spatial job accessibility and used information on neighborhood characteristics and household composition to assess social accessibility. The results indicate that better spatial accessibility to jobs is associated with lower unemployment among native-born black and foreign-born Mexican and Vietnamese women; no association was detected among the remaining immigrant groups. The analysis yielded no empirical support for the advantages that residence in an enclave may provide female immigrant residents in the form of access to employment through social networks. In fact, the results point to detrimental effects of residence in an ethnic enclave for foreign-born Mexican and Vietnamese women. Finally, among all groups, living with other employed adults significantly and substantively decreased a woman’s likelihood of unemployment, indicating the importance of household-based social accessibility for less-educated native-born black and immigrant women’s employment outcomes.