From Financial Exclusion to Collective Stability: Worker Cooperatives and Precarious Immigrant Workers' Financial Capability

Precarious immigrant workers in the United States face persistent barriers to financial capability, including unstable employment, low wages, limited access to financial services, and language barriers. Existing research often emphasizes individual-level deficits, overlooking institutional influences. This study examines how institutional support from worker cooperatives (co-ops) and their networks, including co-op associations, unions, credit unions, and local NGOs, shapes precarious immigrant workers' financial capability. Using grounded theory analysis of 25 interviews with Hispanic immigrant women in New York City-based domestic worker co-ops, findings show that institutional support expands access to banking, credit-building, and financial education while enabling collective financial structures such as group savings and emergency loan programs. These serve as worker-led safety nets for financial stability. Based on these findings, the study proposes an expanded financial capability model that incorporates collective culture, institutionalized financial structures, and collective financial strategies, demonstrating how institutional support strengthens the financial capability of precarious immigrant workers beyond the individual level.