Labor Outcomes of Immigrants to the U.S.: Occupational Mobility and Returns to Education Gabriela Sánchez-Soto

What Determines Occupational Attainment? Barriers to some types of jobs –Human capital –Social capital –Labor market structure Migrant social networks –Information and access to employment –Concentration in certain types of jobs Segmented labor market –“Migrant jobs” Assimilation and occupational mobility –Human capital acquisition –Legalization

The Occupational Mobility of Mexican Migrants in the United States Gabriela Sánchez-Soto, Joachim Singelmann and Daesung Choi Are migrants obtaining jobs commensurate to their skills upon arriving to the U.S.? –If so, who does? Do migrants attain better jobs as they acquire experience in the U.S.? –If so who does?

The Study Mexican Migration Project data Labor and migration histories –Migrants 15 years old and older, from 1965 to date –4,747 males, 486 females Compare upward, lateral (ref.) and downward mobility 1.Last occupation in Mexico vs. first occupation in the U.S. Up to five years before migration Excludes those out of the labor force 2.First occupation in the U.S. vs. last occupation in the U.S. Excludes those with less than 5 years of accumulated experience Excludes those out of the labor force

Mobility from Mexico to the U.S. In Mexico: agriculture, unskilled, skilled In U.S.: agriculture, unskilled and services In Mexico: services, skilled, domestic In U.S.: services, domestic, skilled

Occupation Distribution, Males

First to Last Job in the U.S. First job: agriculture, unskilled, services Last job: unskilled, agriculture, services First job: services, skilled, domestic Last job: services, domestic, skilled

Summary of findings Results are consistent with a segmented occupational structure for migrants, especially women More occupational mobility in the transition from last job in Mexico to first job in the U.S. than from first to last job in the U.S. Few opportunities for mobility as immigrants spend time in the U.S. College education lowers risk of downward mobility for males, but lowers the risk of upward mobility for females Future work –Use more detailed information on migrant networks –Add additional labor market indicators –Explore salary differentials for same jobs in both countries Are there gaps in salary attainment?

The Return-on-Education Gap between Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites Gabriela Sánchez-Soto, Andrea Bautista León and Joachim Singelmann What is the cost of being Hispanic? Gaps in educational and occupational achievement by race/ethnicity Immigrants earn lower wages than natives Need for a comparison that includes foreign-born Hispanics –Difficulties joining and integrating into the labor market –May not obtain jobs commensurate to their human capital

The Study American Community Survey, US-born NH-Whites and Hispanics, and foreign-born Hispanics – Ages – 6.8 million individuals, 49.8% males – 85% NH-Whites, about 10% are Mexicans (half US-born) – 60% HS degree, 30% college degree Estimate pre-tax wage and income in the previous 12 months (logged) Ordinary Least Squares regression models Two-step Heckman selection models – Adjust for selectivity – Age and education composition

Independent Variables Education Age, language skills, year, lives in metro area, region Weeks, hours per week worked, socioeconomic status Comparisons: Ethnicity and nativity – NH-Whites – US-born Hispanics – FB-born Hispanics Mexicans, Cuban, Puerto Ricans, other. Sex

Average predicted wages for males Source: ACS, Predicted values from full OLS model, covariates centered at the mean.

Average predicted wages for females Source: ACS, Predicted values from full OLS model, covariates centered at the mean.

Summary of Findings Net of selectivity, there is a wage cost to being Hispanic This loss of wages is greater at higher levels of education and for the foreign born Gaps are particularly high for women –Consider part-time employment, interruptions Benefits of being a U.S. citizen: –U.S.-born Cubans have the highest returns to post-secondary education –As well as Puerto Ricans, especially women Mexicans and Puerto Rican females have the greatest returns to low education