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USA/Africa: Wage Penalties for Black Immigrants
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Aug 18, 2011 (110818)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"Contrary to the popular impression, black male immigrants
are not better off in weekly wages than U.S.-born black
males after controlling for observable demographic
characteristics [such as level of education and
experience]. ... U.S.-born black men earn 19.1% less than
similar U.S.-born white men. West Indian men do slightly
worse and earn 20.7% less than similar native white men.
Haitian men and African men do substantially worse than
U.S.-born black men; Haitian men earn 33.8% less, and
African men earn 34.7% less than similar native white men."
- Economic Policy Institute study
This study from the Economic Policy Institute, released
early this year, confirms statistics showing that African
immigrants, on average, have higher education levels than
U.S.-born blacks or even than U.S.-born non-Hispanic
whites. In 2008, for example, 36.6% of Africa-born U.S.
residents had a bachelor's degree or higher, as compared to
29.5% of U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites and 16.4% of U.S.-
born blacks. Within groups similar in education and other
demographic characteristics, however, black immigrants,
including African immigrants, are even more disadvantaged
in comparison to non-Hispanic whites than U.S.-born blacks.
The study, excerpted here, shows that the picture is more
complex than is often assumed. The full study, with tables,
charts, and references, is available online at
http://www.epi.org / direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/3mfsf82
Another AfricaFocus Bulletin, sent out by e-mail today and
available on the web at http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/mig1108a.php,
contains excerpts from an extensive new report from the
Migration Policy Institute summarizing data about African
immigrants in the United States.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on migration issues, see
http://www.africafocus.org/migrexp.php
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
The low wages of black immigrants: Wage penalties for U.S.-
born and foreign-born black workers
February 8, 2011 EPI Briefing Paper #298
Economic Policy Institute
http://www.epi.org / direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/3mfsf82
Patrick L. Mason and Algernon Austin
The popular discussion of black immigrants often
exaggerates their achievements and denigrates U.S.-born
blacks. One regularly hears asked, "Why do black immigrants
do better than native blacks?" (Coates 2009). In these
discussions, black immigrants usually are presented as hard
working, valuing education, entrepreneurial, and familyoriented.
U.S.-born blacks are often presented as lacking
all of these characteristics, and sometimes even described
as carrying "victimhood baggage" (Coates 2009; Marshall
2006). Many such discussions are driven by anecdotes, and
even when these issues are explored using actual data,
rarely are comparisons based on more than one measure;
rarer still is there a comparison of how black immigrants
fare in comparison with native whites.
This report aims to deepen the public discussion by
conducting a broader, more careful examination of the
socio-economic standing of black immigrants relative to
U.S.-born blacks and whites. Its main findings are:
-
After taking into account the effect of 15 wage-related
characteristics, all black male populations are found to
earn less than similar U.S.-born non-Hispanic white men.
U.S.-born black men earn 19.1% less. West Indian men, that
is, black immigrants from English-speaking Caribbean
countries, do slightly worse, earning 20.7% less.
Haitian men and African men do substantially worse than
U.S.-born black men. Haitian men earn 33.8% less, and
African men earn 34.7% less than similar native white men.
- All groups of black women have lower weekly wages than
similar U.S.-born non-Hispanic white women, but the size of
the wage gaps is smaller for women than it is for men. West
Indian women do somewhat better than U.S.-born black women.
West Indian women earn 8.3% less than U.S.-born white
women. U.S.-born black women earn 10.1% less than U.S.-born
white women. African women also earn 10.1% less. Haitian
women are the worst off, earning 18.6% less.
- Analyses of unemployment and poverty rates show that
U.S.-born and foreign-born black populations are also worse
off than U.S.-born whites on these measures.
- Economically, U.S.-born and foreign-born blacks have
common problems that need to be addressed.
A broader look at the socioeconomic conditions of black
immigrants
This report first examines the population growth and
geographic distribution of the foreign-born black
population, and then compares the U.S.- and foreign-born
groups by educational attainment, marriage rates,
unemployment rates, and poverty rates.
These comparisons are followed by a more sophisticated
analysis of the groups' weekly wages. Multivariate
statistical analyses are used to compare the groups while
taking into account 15 additional characteristics (see the
appendix for all variables). These characteristics are all
useful in predicting weekly wages and could explain
differences in the weekly wages among groups. The reference
group for these analyses will be U.S.-born non-Hispanic
whites.
U.S.-born blacks typically are found to earn less than
U.S.-born whites in these types of analyses.
Population growth and concentrations
The black immigrant population has grown significantly over
recent decades. In 2008, immigrants who identified as black
alone or black in combination with some other race totaled
3.2 million and made up 8.1% of black America see Table 1).
The number of foreign-born people who identify as black
alone or black in combination increased by approximately
800,000 from 2000 to 2008 (see Table 2).
As with the immigrant population generally (Dockterman and
Velasco 2010), the black immigrant population is growing at
a faster rate than the U.S.-born black population. From
2000 to 2008, the foreign-born black-alone-or-incombination
population increased 33.1%, but the U.S.-born black-aloneor
-in-combination population increased 9.6% (see Table 2).
The difference in the growth rates is even larger for the
black-alone population.
The black foreign-born population is highly concentrated in
a few states. More than one-in-four (27.4%) black
immigrants live in New York state (see Figure A). Nearly
one-in-five (17.8%) live in Florida. More than half (51.2%)
of the black foreign-born population reside in just three
states--New York, Florida, and New Jersey.
This high concentration of black immigrants in these states
means that when individuals interact with blacks in these
states they are often interacting with immigrants. While
for the nation as a whole 8.1% of blacks are immigrants, in
New York state 26.9% of blacks are immigrants. In Florida,
19.3% of blacks are immigrants, and in New Jersey, 15.5%
(see Table 3). Within particular cities in these states the
proportion of immigrants is likely even higher.
One does not have to live in a state with a large share of
the total black immigrant population to feel the impact of
black immigrants. In some states that have relatively few
blacks, immigrants nonetheless make up a large share of the
small black population. Nearly one-in-three blacks in
Massachusetts are foreign-born. In North Dakota, Rhode
Island, Maine, Vermont, and Minnesota, approximately onein
-four blacks are foreign-born. Although there are small
numbers of blacks in these states, a large share of the
blacks are foreign-born.
Table 3
Share of foreign-born blacks in black population by state,
2008
Note: "Black" refers to the black-alone-or-in-combination
population and includes Hispanics.
Source: Authors' analysis of American Community Survey
data.
State Percent of blacks who are foreign-born
Alabama 0.6
Alaska 8.7
Arizona 8.0
Arkansas 0.6
California 6.1
Colorado 9.8
Connecticut 17.8
Delaware 7.5
DC 7.0
Florida 19.3
Georgia 5.0
Hawaii 8.4
Idaho 16.8
Illinois 2.7
Indiana 2.3
Iowa 7.6
Kansas 4.5
Kentucky 2.0
Louisiana 0.6
Maine 25.0
Maryland 10.0
Massachusetts 31.8
Michigan 1.6
Minnesota 23.7
Mississippi 0.2
Missouri 2.4
Montana 6.9
Nebraska 13.1
Nevada 7.0
New Hampshire 15.2
New Jersey 15.5
New Mexico 6.3
New York 26.9
North Carolina 2.4
North Dakota 27.0
Ohio 3.2
Oklahoma 2.6
Oregon 7.6
Pennsylvania 4.9
Rhode Island 26.2
South Carolina 1.0
South Dakota 14.7
Tennessee 2.4
Texas 5.0
Utah 21.4
Vermont 23.7
Virginia 5.4
Washington 13.7
West Virginia 2.4
Wisconsin 2.8
Wyoming 4.7
Comparing selected black populations and U.S.-born whites
The analysis below focuses on the U.S.-born, the Englishspeaking
Caribbean or West Indian,1 Haitian, and African
black populations. Black refers inclusively to individuals
who only identify as black and to individuals with biracial
or multiracial black identities. The black populations will
be compared to each other and to U.S.-born non-Hispanic
whites. We start by comparing the groups by educational
attainment, marriage rates, unemployment rates, and poverty
rates.
Educational attainment
In the 25-years-and-older population, African immigrants
had the highest attainment rate for bachelor's or higher
degrees. More than one-third (36.6%) of African immigrants
have a bachelor's or higher degree (see Table 4). U.S.-
born non-Hispanic whites attained these degrees at 29.5%.
About one-in-five (20.6%) of West Indians have college
degrees. U.S.-born blacks and Haitian immigrants have
basically equivalent rates of attaining college degrees,
16.4% and 16.1%, respectively.
While African immigrants have the highest rate of
bachelor's or higher degrees, they do not have the lowest
rate of high school dropouts. Only 9.8% of U.S.-born
whites failed to obtain a high school diploma, but the
rate is 12.9% for African immigrants. Haitians have the
lowest rate of high school graduation, with 26.2% failing
to obtain a high school diploma. U.S.-born blacks and West
Indians have equivalent rates of dropping out of high
school; 19.1% and 19.3%, respectively.
African immigrants obtain college and advanced degrees at
greater rates than U.S.-born whites, but they fail to
complete high school at higher rates than whites. In
educational attainment, the West Indian population is
slightly better off than the U.S.-born black population.
The Haitian population is slightly worse off. Relative to
the U.S.-born white and black populations, the black
immigrant population has both positive and negative
educational characteristics.
...
Unemployment rates
U.S.-born blacks have the highest unemployment rate (see
Figure C). In 2008, their annual unemployment rate based on
the American Community Survey was 12.3%. While foreign-born
blacks had lower unemployment rates, their rates were all
significantly higher than the white rate of 5.3%. The
unemployment rate for West Indians and Africans were both
7.9%, or 1.5 times that of the white rate. The rate for
Haitians was even higher--9.4%, or 1.8 times the white
rate. While black immigrants have lower unemployment rates
than U.S.-born blacks, they still have substantially high
unemployment rates.
Poverty rates
U.S.-born blacks also have the highest poverty rate, at
24.5% (see Figure D). U.S.-born whites have the lowest
poverty rate, at 9.2%. The poverty rates for black
immigrants increases from West Indians (11.6%) to Haitians
(15.7%) to Africans (18.8%). The African poverty rate is
closer to the U.S.-born black rate than the U.S.-born white
rate.
When comparing groups by educational attainment, marriage
rates, unemployment rates, and poverty rates, a clear
pattern of black disadvantage relative to U.S.-born whites
begins to emerge. Specifically, on the economic measures of
unemployment and poverty rates, all of the black immigrant
groups do significantly worse than U.S.-born whites. This
point provides some context for understanding the findings
from the multivariate wage analysis below.
Comparing the wages of selected black populations to U.S.-
born whites
When one puts aside the popular stereotypes that black
immigrants fare better in the economy, one finds reasons
why black immigrants might earn less than similar U.S.-born
whites and blacks. As immigrants, they may lack a facility
with American English and American accents--even if English
is their first language. Many black immigrants, especially
Africans, are highly educated, but if that education is
from outside the United States, it may not be as valued as
a U.S. degree. If foreign degrees are devalued in the U.S.
labor market, then black immigrants may earn lower wages.
To assess the wages of black immigrants relative to U.S.born
whites and blacks, we use a pooled dataset of the
March Current Population Survey from 2001 to 2007. Wage
data are inflation-adjusted to 2007 dollars using the
Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers. We control for,
or take into account the effect of, potential work
experience, years of education, union status, region,
marital status, number of unmarried children, service in
the armed forces, unearned income, state employment-topopulation
ratio, work limitations, and size of locality
(see the appendix for a complete list of all variables in
the regression analysis). In other words, the final results
allow us to make "apples-to-apples" wage comparisons among
workers of different races and nativity. The analysis is
done separately for men and for women, and it is restricted
to 16-64-year-olds.
Men
Contrary to the popular impression, black male immigrants
are not better off in weekly wages than U.S.-born black
males after controlling for observable demographic
characteristics. Some black male immigrant groups are
actually worse off than U.S.-born blacks (see Figure E). As
expected, U.S.-born black men have weekly wages that are
lower than similar U.S.-born non-Hispanic white men. U.S.-
born black men earn 19.1% less than similar U.S.-born white
men. West Indian men do slightly worse and earn 20.7% less
than similar native white men. Haitian men and African men
do substantially worse than U.S.-born black men; Haitian
men earn 33.8% less, and African men earn 34.7% less than
similar native white men. (All findings are statistically
significant at the p<.001 level.)
Women
As with men, all groups of black women have lower weekly
wages than similar U.S.-born non-Hispanic white women, but
the size of the wage disparity is smaller (see Figure E).
West Indian women do somewhat better than U.S.-born black
women. West Indian women earn 8.3% less than U.S.-born
white women. U.S.-born black women earn 10.1% less than
U.S.-born white women. African women also earn 10.1% less.
Haitian women are the worst off, earning 18.6% less. While
U.S.-born black women are not in the best position among
the groups of black women, it would be incorrect to make
the blanket claim that black female immigrants do better
wage-wise than U.S.-born black women. (All findings are
statistically significant at the p<.001 level.)
In regards to weekly wages, overall, U.S.-born non-Hispanic
whites earn significantly more than similar blacks
regardless of nativity. On this measure, foreign-born
blacks do not outperform U.S.-born blacks. Some may be
surprised by this finding in light of the higher poverty
rates among U.S.-born blacks. But poverty rates are the
result of several factors. The higher unemployment rates
and lower marriage rates of U.S.-born blacks are likely
contributing factors to their higher poverty rates.
Conclusion
When one compares the socioeconomic standing of black
immigrants with U.S.-born blacks and whites, the strongest
finding is that of the U.S.-born white advantage relative
to all black groups. Africans have a high rate of obtaining
college degrees, but they also have a relatively high rate
of not having a high school degree. U.S.-born whites have
the lowest rate of high school dropouts. U.S.-born whites
have the highest marriage rates, the lowest unemployment
rates, and the lowest poverty rates. Even after taking into
account the effect of 14 wage-related characteristics,
U.S.-born whites have significantly higher wages than all
black groups.
Contrary to the popular stereotype, black immigrants are
not consistently better off than U.S.-born blacks. In
educational attainment and weekly wages, U.S.-born blacks
fall within the range of black immigrant groups. U.S.-born
blacks are worse off in marriage rates, unemployment rates,
and poverty rates. However, foreign-born blacks cannot be
said to be doing well, even if they are not quite as bad
off as U.S.-born blacks. Economically, U.S.-born and
foreign-born blacks have common problems that need to be
addressed.
The fact that black immigrant groups--who are said to be
hardworking, valuing education, entrepreneurial, and
family-oriented--do relatively poorly in finding work,
obtaining a good wage, and staying out of poverty suggests
that the playing field is not as level as popularly
believed. The fact that all of these groups are black may
contribute to their hardships in the United States.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic
publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on
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international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by
William Minter.
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