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Title: Identity and Earnings Among Cape Verdean Immigrants

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2008

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Abstract: Cape Verdeans are a Portuguese speaking, mixed-race people with a legacy of slavery and colonialism. Their homeland is a small island group off the coast of Africa. Cape Verdean immigrants are a theoretically interesting population because most Americans would label them “Black”, while they traditionally describe themselves as “Mestiço”. In this paper, we explore the correlates of their identity and earnings, using data from the 2000 U.S. Census--the first to accept multiple responses to the “race question”. We use multivariate statistical techniques initially to distinguish among their answers to the “race question” and later to compare their earnings with those of immigrants from Portugal and the Azores, and with those of native born African Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites. The results of both analyses suggest that Cape Verdeans who identify as “White” on the census have stronger resources and better outcomes than those with other identities. In addition, gender affects earnings. Most Cape Verdean men earn less than any group in the study, but most Cape Verdean women earn as much as Native Born NonHispanic Whites.

Url: http://people.umass.edu/smodel/ASA2008.pdf

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Authors: Model, Suzanne; Fisher, Gene

Conference Name: American Sociological Association

Publisher Location: Boston

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

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