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Title: Skills, Immigration, and New Inequality in the United States, 1993–2019
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2021
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Abstract: US labor market polarization over the past several decades has occurred alongside substantial demographic changes in the size, gender, and skill levels of the immigrant labor force. Yet few studies have investigated how these demographic changes have affected earnings inequality within and between immigrant and US native populations over time. This paper draws on multiple sources of data to examine trends in earnings inequality among immigrants and US natives and the changing returns to skill for each subpopulation. Using data from the 1994–2019 Current Population Survey, we show that levels of earnings inequality are similar among high-skill immigrants and US natives during the study period; however, inequality among low-skill US natives consistently exceeds that of low-skill immigrants. Furthermore, the returns to skill have remained greater among high-skill immigrants relative to high-skill US natives over time. Second, using longitudinal data from the 1993–1999 and 2003–2010 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), we find that between 1993–1999 earnings among high-skill workers did not differ by nativity. However, between 2003–2010, an earnings gap between high-skill immigrants and US natives emerged, with high-skill immigrants, both men and women, experiencing an earnings advantage over high-skill US natives. Differences in sociodemographic, family, and labor force characteristics explain some, but not all, earnings gaps across nativity and skill groups. These results have important implications for rising economic inequality in the United States.
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Authors: Dunatchik, Allison; Anna Schut, Rebecca; Song, Xi
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Data Collections: IPUMS CPS
Topics: Migration and Immigration
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