Low-skilled Immigrants Research Articles

Low-Skilled Immigrants and the Changing American Labor Market

In this note I examine the economic status and economic prospects of low-skilled immigrants in the changing American labor market.... While low-skilled immigrants maintain strong employment levels they are concentrated in the most menial low-skilled jobs and their wages are declining relative to those of natives. The substantial deterioration of the economic status of low-skilled immigrants in the last decade raises important policy questions concerning ways to address the plight of this growing segment of U.S. workers. (EXCERPT) (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)

The Effects of Immigrants on African-American Earnings: A Jobs-Level Analysis of the New York City Labor Market, 1979-89

The improvement in the relative economic status of African-American Workers in the 1960's and 1970's was reversed in the 1980's, a decade that also featured a collapse in the relative (and real) wages of the last skilled (Bound and Freeman, 1992; Blau and Kahn, 1992; Levy and Murnane, 1992). At the same time, the U.S. experienced the largest absolute and per capita levels of immigration since the early part of the century. Significantly, this recent wave of immigrants was far less skilled, at least in terms of educational attainment, than earlier waves of immigrants in the post-war period. Friedberg and Hunt (1995) report that 43% of new immigrants did not possess the equivalent of a high school degree. And according to a recent study by David Jaeger (1995), in the 50 largest metropolitan areas employed male immigrants were about 16% of the civilian workforce with less than a high school degree in 1980; by 1990 this figure was over 30%. For women, this figure rose from 17% to almost 28%. Not surprisingly, there is a concern that growing numbers of immigrant workers have negatively affected the standing of African-Americans in urban labor markets. But with the exception of Borjas, Freeman and Katz (1996) and Jaeger (1995), the consensus in the research community appears to be that there has been little if any negative wage effects (see the surveys by Borjas, 1994; Friedberg and Hunt, 1995; and DeFreitas, 1996; National Academy of Sciences 1997). This is a rather surprising finding, since it requires a nearly instantaneous adjustment to labor supply shocks in local labor markets. Borjas (1994) terms this an unresolved puzzle. Indeed, it is particularly puzzling since the sharp growth in the supply of low-skill immigrants took place during a decade in which the power of labor market institutions to shelter low-skill workers from intense wage competition was severely eroded. In our view, the failure to find earnings effects from sharply rising supplies of low-skill foreign-born workers in increasingly deregulated labor markets may reflect the dominant research methodology, which has been to explore these effects with across-metropolitan tests. Since immigrants are overwhelmingly concentrated in a small number of urban labor markets, such as Los Angeles, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Miami, we would expect wage effects to be concentrated in these same cities. In addition, the effects of increasing supplies of low-skill workers on wage outcomes are likely to be strongest in jobs that are unsheltered by unions, civil service rules, or craft- and firm-specific skill requirements. Indeed, if wage setting for low-skill workers takes place mainly at the job level (see Thurow, 1975), then the effects of a large increase in labor supply should be explored at the level of detailed jobs in specific metropolitan labor markets.

Immigration and internal migration “flight”: A California case study

Recent analyses of 1990 census migration data have pointed up disparities in the way immigration and internal migration contributions affect an area's profile. They show that there is little overlap between states with large population gains from internal migration from other parts of the United States and states with large population gains from immigration from abroad. This emerging pattern, along with the fact that immigration and internal migration select on very different characteristics, could lead toward a demographic balkanization of the nation's population. This paper evaluates immigration-induced out-movement from California, based on an analysis of recently released migration data from the 1990 U.S. census. The results presented here suggest that California's out-migration consists of two different migration systems: first, an immigration-induced flight that exports lower income and less-educated Californians, primarily, to the nearby states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. And second, a more conventional migration exchange with the rest of the United States that involves the redistribution of better educated, higher income migrants. It is the former migration system which appears to be most responsive to the low-skilled immigration flows, while the latter should be responsive to more conventional labor market employment characteristics. This implies that, irrespective of changing economic conditions in the state, the continued immigration of low-skilled migrants will lead to more losses of native-born internal migrants to neighboring states and metropolitan areas. However, these migrant streams will not be made up of the best and brightest residents that characterize most conventional migration streams.

Immigrants' Progress: Ethnic and Gender Differences among U.S. Immigrants in the 1980s

Using data from the June 1986 and June 1988 Current Population Surveys, we look at differences in occupational achievement, education, occupational prestige, and per capita income among a large number of first-generation immigrant groups. We seek to explore a central question in the debate about the economic prospects of immigrants: Do groups convert education into occupational prestige in similar ways? To address this issue, we examine differences in estimated rates of returns to socioeconomic occupational scores for education among immigrant groups. Notwithstanding language difficulties and unfamiliarity with the labor market—characteristics that we could not measure with this dataset—the labor market experiences of higher-skilled immigrants appear not to differ appreciably from that of native whites of native parentage. By contrast, low-skilled immigrants are concentrated in low-level jobs where the structure of employment seems to limit the rewards to additional gains in skill.

Slowing the Wave

If the US persists on its present course of immigration policy it risks facing a nasty nativist reaction. Immigration remains a hot topic of public debate as well as an increasingly important foreign policy issue as diplomatic efforts are made to stem the tide of illegal migrants. While charges that immigrants consume more from health and education services than they contribute to society and that low-skilled immigrants weaken American global competitiveness may overstate their results valid concern is raised about the reluctance of todays immigrants to make a psychological break with their native land. Despite these concerns promigrant policies continue in response to the pressure of various special interest groups. The 1965 family reunification policy inevitably bolstered the enclave mentality that hinders assimilation. This policy in combination with other forces has resulted in an all-time high in the number of migrants in the US with 75% attracted to just six states. Public unease about immigration intensified because of job scarcity and high profile crimes involving illegal immigrants. This unease is surprisingly widespread and deeply felt in the politically important states which have a disproportionate share of migrants. The Clinton administration responded to this unease with a policy pronouncement on illegal migration. Suggested legal reforms also abound and would have an important effect on US foreign policy. As population increases in developing countries the pressure on the US to accept migrants will also increase as will the nativist pressure inside the country. Clinton officials have issued warnings to governments accused of cooperating in illegal migration. The most difficult negotiations will take place with Mexico. An important strategy would be to deliver more financial assistance to population programs throughout the world and to participate in economic development efforts. Border monitoring should also receive more funding and air and sea carriers should be fined for delivering undocumented aliens. The migratory option must no longer be used as an inducement for certain groups to leave their homelands or as a condition for diplomatic relations. Work skills must be reemphasized as the primary entrance criteria. If immigration is considered in terms of historical cycles it is evident that it is time to slow the pace to allow those recently admitted to assimilate. The Statue of Liberty must be viewed as it was intended not as a standing invitation but as a standing inspiration.

Speaking, Reading, and Earnings among Low-Skilled Immigrants

This article is concerned with the determinants of English language fluency among immigrants and the effects of fluency on earnings. Using special survey data on a sample of over 800 aliens, the analysis shows the importance of certain variables not previously available, speaking fluency at migration and English reading fluency. English speaking and reading fluency both increase with duration in the United States, and the increase with duration is greater for those with more schooling and who are not Hispanic. The article shows that reading fluency is more important than speaking fluency as a determinant of earnings.

L'immigration et l'économie des États-Unis

Immigration and the economy of the United States Barry R. CHISWICK This paper is concerned with how immigration and immigration policy have influenced the economy of the United States. It focuses on the events of the past quarter century, particularly since the enactment of the 1965 Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act. It begins with a review of the demographic characteristics of immigrants and how these characteristics have changed over time, in part in response to changes in immigration policy. These demographic changes have direct implications for immigrant skills. This is followed by a discussion of the labor market (economic) characteristics and adjustment of immigrants. The impact of immigrants, particularly low-skilled immigrants, on the level and inequality of income in the economy is explored.