“The panic stays in your mind…concentrating more on the worries than the relationship”: Intimate partnerships during COVID-19 for immigrant women in New York City

Abstract

Objective

This study examines perceptions of change in intimate relationships among partnered, immigrant women in New York City during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We pay close attention to how structural oppression, particularly related to undocumented immigration status, shaped women's experiences with their intimate partners during a period of social upheaval.

Background

COVID-19 has exacerbated many existing structural inequities and subsequent stressors that have been shown to have an adverse effect on intimate relationships, including increased economic instability and mental health distress. Immigrant women may be particularly vulnerable to relationship strain because of intersecting social and structural inequities.

Methods

We draw on in-depth, semi-structured interviews among a heterogenous sample of 22 women with varied legal status from Latin America, South and East Asia, and the Middle East.

Results

Findings reveal three primary pathways through which structural inequities shaped women's experiences with intimate partnership strain, including financial and material scarcity; uneven caregiving burdens; and constrained access to support in situations of violence and abuse.

Conclusion

Our analysis demonstrates ways that structural oppression, particularly driven by exclusionary immigration laws, influences intimate partner relationships through the legal status of immigrant women. Understanding how structural oppression shapes immigrant partnerships is essential for the field of family demography and for family-serving professionals in referring clients to resources and services, as well as helping women explore sources of resilience and coping within their families and communities.