Labor market improves with every successive generation, says new EPI report

 

POSTED ON Jul 06, 2018

 

Have the labor market conditions of the nation’s 58.9 million Hispanics (who constitute 18.1 percent of the U.S. population) improved, stayed the same, or deteriorated over recent times? The authors of a new report “Hispanic–white wage gap has remained wide and relatively steady” began their examination in 1979 and end in 2017.

The Economic Policy Institute paper found that wage gaps between second-generation Hispanic immigrants (those born in the U.S. to at least one foreign-born parent) and second-generation non-Hispanic white immigrants were narrower than wage gaps between first-generation Hispanic and white immigrants (those born outside the U.S.)

Maria Mora, an economics professor at Texas Rio Grande Valley and Alberto Dávila, professor and dean of the Harrison College of Business at Southeast Missouri State University, conclude this is consistent with the notion that as successive generations of immigrants assimilate, their labor market outcomes improve.

“It’s clear that Hispanic workers still lag behind their white peers in many regards,” said Mora. “But it’s important to point out that Hispanic workers are not a homogeneous group. This analysis shows clear differences based on factors like where Hispanic workers are from, how educated they are, and how long their families have lived in the United States.”

Mora and Dávila also look at unemployment and labor force participation rates by national origin (specifically Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American)—comparing these rates with the overall population faced with an ongoing trend of growing wage inequality.

“There are many causes for concern in this analysis, but there are some reasons to be optimistic,” said Dávila. “For example, Hispanic workers clearly place value on education and Hispanic education attainment is growing—but we need to make sure that Hispanic Americans have access to high quality, affordable education.”

While the share of Hispanic women with a bachelor’s degree or more education has risen steadily over the last four decades (reaching 25.9 percent in 2017), the report found:

• Hispanic–white “college attainment gap” for Hispanic women has stayed relatively stable over this period.
• Hispanic women have not closed the college attainment gap with white women (48.9 percent of whom have a bachelor’s degree or more education) or white men (40.9 percent of whom have a bachelor’s degree or more education).
• For Hispanic men, the college attainment gap has widened: in 2017, only 16.4 percent of Hispanic men had a bachelor’s degree or more education.