Immigrant Homes and Wealth and Poverty

Chart

By: Luke J. Larsen, U.S. Census Bureau

Date: August 2003

Source: Adapted by Thomson Gale from: Larsen, Luke J. The Foreign-Born Population in the U.S.: 2003. U.S. Census Bureau, August 2003.

About the Author: Luke J. Larsen is a researcher in the U.S. Census Bureau, a division of the United States Department of Commerce.

INTRODUCTION

The census chart below shows the distribution of household income for native-born and foreign-born members of the United States population and the distribution of income for individual foreign-born groups by region of birth. The data relates to 2002 and is from the Current Population Survey, a monthly sample survey of around fifty thousand U.S. households, conducted by the Bureau of the Census. The main purpose of the survey is to collect employment-related data, including data on individual and household incomes; it also collects information on the demographic characteristics of the population, including its composition by country of birth.

The distribution of the foreign-born population as a whole by household income in 2002 was not significantly different from that for the native-born population. Just a slightly higher percentage of the foreign born (24.6 percent) compared with the native-born (22.3 percent) were in households with a total annual income of less than $20,000, while 38.6 percent of the foreign-born compared with 44 percent of the native-born were in high-earning households with an income of $50,000 or more. Finally, 36.7 percent of the foreign-born were in households with an income of between $20,000 and $49,999, compared with 33.7 percent of the native-born.

However, these figures for the foreign-born concealed substantial differences in household income levels between the foreign-born groups from different parts of the world. Those born in Asian countries stood out as having the highest percentage of households earning $50,000 or more (53.8 percent) and the smallest percentage having low household incomes of less than $20,000 (18.5 percent). Asian immigrants therefore appeared to be performing much better economically than native-born Americans, as well as other foreign-born groups.

Conversely, foreign-born immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America were significantly more likely than the native-born to be living in households with a total income of less than $20,000 and were considerably less likely to be in households with incomes of $50,000 or more. Finally, those originating in South America, Europe, or other regions of the world had similar household income distributions to the native-born.

With the exception of the foreign-born from Asian countries, the majority of recent immigrants to the United States have been born in countries showing relatively low levels of household income compared with the native population. This may partly be due to their short length of time in the United States, since immigrants often face difficulties in securing well-paid work when they first arrive in a new country, perhaps because they do not speak the language, or do not have experience or qualifications that are recognized in the new country. Even highly qualified immigrants often have to take menial jobs when they first arrive. However, many research studies have shown that immigrants usually catch up with, or even exceed, the wage rates of the native population within a period of ten to twenty years.

Recent immigrants to the United States, particularly those from Mexico and other Central American countries, have tended to be those with low levels of educational attainment and skills, so it is not clear whether they will enjoy the same levels of economic success in the longer term as earlier immigrants, such as the Asians who entered the country in the 1970s and 1980s with very high levels of educational qualifications. In contrast to these Asian immigrants, nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born from Central America surveyed in 2003 had not completed high school.

In the case of the foreign-born from the Caribbean, who exhibited the lowest levels of household income overall, racial discrimination against black people in the labor force may also have an impact on their ability to secure well-paid work.

It is important to note that the data reflects the national distribution of household incomes by country of birth. The economic experiences of immigrants are likely to vary considerably between geographic areas as a result of factors such as local labor market conditions and whether there is a community network of their own nationals who can help them to secure jobs.

PRIMARY SOURCE

IMMIGRANT HOMES AND WEALTH AND POVERTY

See primary source image.

SIGNIFICANCE

Recent U.S. immigration policies have given priority to entry for family reunification rather than employment purposes. This has resulted in an influx of poorly educated, low-skilled immigrants who in general have performed less well economically than the native-born population.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for low-skilled workers to secure well-paid jobs in the U.S., regardless of national origin, since structural changes have reduced the availability of manufacturing and industrial work, and decreased wages in low-skilled service jobs. Continuing high levels of legal and undocumented migration among low-skilled immigrants along with an increase over time in the educational attainment levels of the native-born population are likely to increase the polarization between relatively highly paid natives and low-paid, low-skilled immigrants. This may result in social tensions and the need for policy interventions to address problems of poverty among immigrant communities.

The experience of earlier, more highly skilled immigrants has demonstrated that the foreign-born can contribute a great deal economically to the U.S. Greater emphasis on employment-based admissions in future immigration reform could potentially help to maximize the benefits of immigration to the country.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

Waldinger, Roger. Strangers at the Gates: New Immigrants in Urban America. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2001.

Periodicals

Allen, James P. "How Successful are Recent Immigrants to the United States and Their Children?" Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (January 2006).

Bernstein, Jared and Jeff Chapman. "Immigration and Poverty: How Are They Linked?" Monthly Labor Review 126 (2003).

Enchautegui, Maria E. "Low-Skilled Immigrants and the Changing American Labor Market." Population and Development Review 24 (1998).

Sehgal, Ellen. "Foreign Born in the U.S. Labor Market: The Results of a Special Survey." Monthly Labor Review (January 1985).

Vargas, Eugenio. "The Influence of Country of Birth and Other Variables on the Earnings of Immigrants: The Case of the United States in 1999 (Ethnicity and Immigration)." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology (January 2005).