Double Jeopardy? Female African and Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

This article uses United States census data from the 1990 and 2000 5 per cent Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) to examine the earnings attainment for Black immigrant women (Africans and English-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbeans) and native-born Black women (African Americans). Data for both samples reveal sizeable earnings differences between the five groups. African, English and French Caribbean immigrant women exhibit noticeably higher average earnings than African Americans. However, with controls for earnings-related measures, the African immigrant advantage is eliminated in the 1990 sample, but not the English and French Caribbean immigrant advantage, nor the Spanish Caribbean immigrant disadvantage. No significant earnings difference was found between African Americans, English and Spanish Caribbean immigrants in the 2000 sample. Conversely, African and French Caribbean immigrants’ earnings were significantly lower than those for African Americans. For African immigrant college-degree holders especially, their higher education did not translate to high earnings. Notably, English-speaking Caribbean immigrant women, with a college degree or not, had a sizeable earnings advantage overall. The earnings for African and French Caribbean college-degree holders were significantly lower than those for English Caribbean college-degree holders. The theoretical implications of our findings are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Black Females
• Immigration
• Earnings
• United States

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the editor of JEMS and the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. Notably, much of that research focused primarily on a comparison between native-born and immigrant Blacks (Dodoo 1997); others frequently treated black immigrants as a single undifferentiated group (Chiswick 1979; Dodoo 1991a,b,c), or focused on Caribbean immigrants to the US (Butcher 1994; Kalmijn 1996; Model 1991, 1995).

2. An exception is Model and Ladipo's (1996) study, which found that discrimination disadvantages African women more than any other group. Yet, even that study was limited to the attainment of occupational status. Hence, how that finding would translate into earnings attainment for Black African immigrant women remains unknown.

3. Although the three theories used in the literature focus on explaining socio-economic attainment among native-born Blacks and Caribbean immigrants, Dodoo (1997) noted that each of these theories has some relevance for understanding the African condition.

4. For ease of reference, in this study the term ‘native-born Blacks’ is used interchangeably with African Americans.

5. Conversely, there are those who argue that, relative to earlier immigrants, recent immigrant flows from developing countries to the US are of a poorer stock, a circumstance that is said to reduce their chances of success. The impetus to an increase in the number of immigrants of poorer stock is the 1965 Family Reunification and Refugee Act, the immigration law that encouraged family and refugee-based migrations (Borjas 1985). For example, Borjas (1987) points to the lower ‘duration-of-stay effects’ of more recent immigrant groups as an indicator of declining immigrant quality. However, Dodoo (1997) argues that much of the African immigration to the US has occurred since the passage of the 1965 act, which spawned one of the most highly educated of all immigrant streams to America. Further, the immigrant quality has remained high, despite increasing refugee activity on the African continent (Dodoo 1997: 528).

6. For a complete description of the IPUMS dataset (including sample and variable descriptions, data compilation and storage), see the IPUMS website at http://www.ipums.org

7. The estimation of the number of years of schooling follows Kalmijn's (1996) formulation, where kindergarten is estimated to be equal to 0 years of schooling; grades 1 to 4 = 2.5 years; grades 5 to 8 = l 6.5 years; grade 9 = 9 years; grade 10 = 10 years; grade 11 = 11 years; grade 12 and high-school graduates = 12 years; partial college and associate degree in an occupational programme translates to 13 years; associate degree in an academic programme = 14.5 years; a bachelor's degree equals 16 years; a master's = 18 years; and professional and doctorate degrees 22 years.

8. Two measures of labour market experience are the number of years of work experience—calculated by taking age minus respondent's years of schooling minus six—and the squared term of labour market experience (noted as experience-squared in Table 2). Similar to Dodoo's (1997) analysis, potential experience (age minus years of schooling minus six) and its squared term are proxies of labour market experience.

9. English proficiency, or the ability to understand and speak English well, varies across immigrant groups; as this variable is self-reported in the census documents, it is a subjective measure.

10. The formula for the t-test is:

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mamadi K. Corra

Mamadi Corra is Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of Sociology at East Carolina University

Sitawa R. Kimuna

Sitawa Kimuna is Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of Sociology at East Carolina University