Mexican immigrants are a critical part of the American workforce, but they are also financially vulnerable.

As Emma Aguila explains in new research she co-authored in the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Mexican immigrants face greater obstacles in securing social security benefits and therefore have to work later into life.

Equally important, Aguila and her colleagues, Zeewan Lee and Rebeca Wong, found Mexicans who do receive those benefits are more likely to rely on them compared to non-Hispanic white populations.

However, an existing framework that determines benefits based on the number of years a worker contributes to U.S. social security could help alleviate the problem if it were applied to Mexico.

Lacking access to social security

Mexican immigrants in the United States have a complex journey to retirement. Because they are working in the U.S., they do not earn social security benefits in Mexico. However, those who are undocumented in U.S. are also not receiving American social security. While documented immigrants qualify for social security, undocumented ones do not. This is despite the fact that the Social Security Administration estimates three-quarters of undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes, resulting in roughly $6–$7 billion in social security contributions which they cannot claim.

The research focused largely on the “determinants,” or triggers, that would enable someone to retire. Examples include social security benefits, health and income.

One determinant Mexican workers reacted strongly to was social security benefits and pensions, if they were available.