Education Lifts all Boats? The Occupational and Earnings Attainments of Asian 1.5 and Second Generations

• In Event: 303 - Regular Session. Asians and Asian Americans

Abstract

Given the increasing immigration flows from Asia to North America, scholars now study the labour market integration of both immigrants and their children. This article uses parental birthplace and visible minority data from the 2006 Canadian census to compare the occupational statuses and earnings of nine Asian-origin 1.5 and second generation groups with each other and also with third-plus generation whites. Asian immigrant groups are those who racially define themselves as PR Chinese , Hong Kong Chinese, South Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani with both parents born in the corresponding countries. With few exceptions, persons from these groups, aged 25-39 and living in cities of 100,000, have higher educational achievements (measured in levels of education, location of highest degree, and field of study), occupational standing and earnings Much of the labour market achievements reflect the educational characteristics of the Asian origin 1.5 and second generation, but some groups, notably those with origins in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and India still perform marginally better with respect to occupational attainments after taking education into account. Higher education almost completely explains the higher earnings of the Asian children of immigrants.

Authors

• Monica Boyd, University of Toronto

• Siyue Tian, University of Toronto

• James-Junmin Jeong, University of Toronto