The Canada-United States joint immigration study: issues in data comparability

The Canada-US immigration project is an attempt to assess carefully the flows, trends, and characteristics of immigrants between the 2 countries. The primary focus for data is the census information derived from the 1980 US and 1981 Canadian censuses. Some observations of the comparison follow. 1) US-born immigrants tend to migrate later. 2) Immigrants have an older age structure than the total population. 3) The sex ratio pattern is similar with older migrants having lower ratios. 4) Immigration of elderly/retired is not a common pattern. 5) Changes in regional destinations is a basic feature of immigration flows. The destination of US immigrants shifted over time from northern states to southern states. Destinations of Canadian immigrants shifted over time from Quebec and prairie provinces to Ontario and British Columbia. 6) A higher proportion of US immigrants ever married and were widowed; higher proportions of Canadian immigrants divorced, and lower proportions separated. These aspects reflect age structure. 7) US immigrants' fertility is similar to the US population in general; Canadian immigrants' fertility is similar to the Canadian population in general. 8) US immigrants born in Canada have a considerably higher attainment. 9) Males aged 16-64 among US immigrants born in Canada have a consistently higher labor force participation rate. 10) Professional specialty occupations increase in importance in the 1975-1980 period in both countries. 11) Incomes of recent immigrants who were full-time, year-round workers from Canada or the US were well above the incomes of the native populations of either country. Comparability had to be examined in light of the variations built into the 2 censuses. Some of these issues are: 1) differences in sampling and collection methods, 2) differences in under/over-enumeration, 3) misreporting of country of birth, 4) differences in questions used, 5) different editing and imputation procedures applied, 6) variations in residence rules, and 7) the exclusion or inclusion of certain groups in the national census counts.     

Explaining immigrant naturalization

"Prior research on immigrant naturalization has focused mainly on the effects of immigrants' adaptation experiences and demographic characteristics on their propensity to naturalize. This article proposes a broader analytical framework which incorporates immigrants' individual characteristics and larger social contexts in the country of origin and the country of destination to explain the likelihood of citizenship acquisition. The framework is tested for a cohort of recent immigrants, using the PUMS data from the 1980 U.S. census. The results show that economic, political, social, cultural and geographical conditions in the country of origin, and immigrants ethnic communities and urban concentration in the country of destination, to a large extent influence immigrants' propensity for naturalization and that, net of the contextual factors, many of the immigrants' adaptation and demographic characteristics are also significant predictors of citizenship acquisition."     

Which Child Immigrants Face Earnings Disparity? Age‐at‐immigration,Ethnic Minority Status and Labour Market Attainment in Canada

Using Canadian Census microdata from 1990 to 2005, we investigate the earnings attainment of immigrants to Canada in 6 age‐at‐arrival cohorts. In comparison to past work we extend our understanding regarding three dimensions of the age at immigration debate: we explore heterogeneity across fine grained age‐at‐arrival cohorts, over a fifteen‐year period and across different ethnic groups. We find that white immigrants and female immigrants arriving in Canada prior to age 18 face little earnings disparity. In contrast, visible minority male immigrants face significant earnings disparity regardless of their age‐at‐migration, and additionally this disparity increases sharply with age‐at‐migration. We find a break in earnings attainment at an age‐of‐arrival of 17, with immigrants arriving after this age performing much worse than those arriving at this age or earlier. The patterns observed are found for visible minority immigrants as a whole, and for Chinese, South Asian and African/Black origin immigrants examined separately.     

Geographically indirect immigration to Canada: description and analysis

"This article is concerned with geographically indirect immigration to Canada over the period 1968-1988. A geographically indirect immigrant is an individual legally admitted to Canada whose country of last permanent residence differs from country of birth. Records maintained by Employment and Immigration Canada on every immigrant legally admitted over the period were used in the study. Relative to geographically direct immigrants, geographically indirect immigrants tend to be older, more educated, and more highly skilled. Moreover, if they were not born in an English or French speaking country, indirect immigrants are more likely to speak English and/or French capably than direct migrants born in such countries. The study also contains bivariate logit estimates of a model of geographically indirect Canadian immigration. This model suggests that indirect migrants tend to be influenced by personal characteristics (age, sex, marital status, occupation, language ability), as well as by various characteristics of the country of birth (distance from Canada, income level, political conditions)."     

One century of foreign immigration to the United States: 1880-1979

Due to declining fertility rates and increased numbers of immigrants, legal foreign immigration now comprises 1/4 of the US's annual population growth. This article uses 1900-1979 Immigration and Naturalization Service data on immigrants' intended destination to examine immigration policy and its effect on immigrants and the American people. From the US's beginnings to the 1880s, immigrants came mainly from Great Britain, Germany, and other Northern and Western European countries, in the 1890s; over 70% of immigrants came from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Germany. Immigration had peaked at over 1 million persons a year at the outbreak of World War I, then declined sharply, and rose again greatly during the first 2 decades of the 20th Century. The first significant legislation to restrict ethnic groups was in the early 1880s with the Chinese Exclusion Act; In 1924, Congress passed the 2nd Immigration and Naturalization Act which used the 1890 census to set quotas for ethnic groups, and later used the 1920 census to fix quotas in the national origins system; both pieces of legislation favored Northern and Western Europeans. Immigration declined drastically during the 1930s and early 1940s, but the Displaced Persons Act, the War Brides Act, and 1950s legislation allowed more Asian refugees and some other ethnic groups to enter the country. The nationality origins quotas were eliminated in 1965, and were followed by dramatic changes in immigration character as persons from formerly low quota nations flooded into the US. 1976 and 1978 legislation made immigration still more equitable, and the Refugee Act of 1980 allowed admittance of 50,000 refugees with no regard for geographic or ideological biases. A preference system, in operation since 1924, has favored relatives of citizens and immigrants with certain skills. Females presently outnumber male immigrants, average immigrant age is 26.2 years, and over 1/2 of the immigrants since 1950 have been housewives, children, or others with no occupation. In the 1970s, 1 in 10 immigrants was a professional or technical worker, probably from Asia. In 1900, most immigrants headed for mainly northern, industrialized cities, especially New York. In recent years, too destinations have included New York, California, Washington, Texas, and Florida. Throughout the century, 3/5 immigrants went to only 5 states, so many states have received very few immigrants since 1900. Due to the amount spent on receiving refugees, and economic and job problems, many Americans think immigration should be greatly limited. Today's 1 million legal and illegal immigrants will continue to change the composition of the American population, as the long established Northern and Western European population declines.     

Immigrants and their occupational absorption: the Israeli case

This paper examines immigrants' occupational absorption by using 1) immigrants' satisfaction with their work in Israel, 2) similarity between jobs held abroad and in Israel, and 3) degree of occupational status persistence. In 1982, 41.9% of the Israeli population was foreign-born, and 84.2% were either immigrants or immigrants' children. 1972-1982 showed 1) a decrease in full-time employed persons and an increase in women's labor force participation; 2) higher educational levels; 3) an increase in scientific, academic, professional, technical, administrative, managerial, and clerical workers; and 4) lower unemployment. These trends, with Israel's high rate of inflation, make the adsorption of immigrants difficult. 80% of immigrants find work within 1 year; and, within 3 years, 78.7% report satisfaction with their work. 1) Status persistence, 2) ascent, 3) selectivity, 4) descent, and 5) random models describe immigrants change in socio-occupational status, before and after immigration. Data from the Statistical Abstract of Israel 1983 show downward mobility for immigrants in their first year. More than 1/3 of scientific and academic professionals in 1975-78, 45.2% in 1978/79, and 56.2% in 1979/80 were not employed in their previous occupations. After 3-5 years, however, most immigrants find employment in their fields. Women have lower status persistence, and hence, higher job mobility, than men; immigrants from European USSR and Western countries have higher status maintenance.     

Family reunification and Philippine migration to the United States: the immigrants' perspective

This article focuses on the impact of the family reunification provisions in the US immigration policy for legal immigration from the Philippines. Immigration and Naturalization Service data on the changing pattern of Philippine immigration to the US between 1971 and 1984 show an increase of nearly 2 1/2 times in the number of immediate family members exempt from numerical limitations, a doubling in the number of immigrants entering under family preference categories, but a marked decline in the number of occupational preference immigrants. Immigration-related plans, behavior, and characteristics from the immigrants' perspective are also analyzed. A family unification policy-based typology has been constructed to categorize intended and actual immigrants to the US. Using this typology, systematic differences are reported for out-migration plans, family contacts, the immigration process, and the characteristics of intended and actual immigrants. While political and economic system competition and inequality are contextual factors for international migration, from the immigrants' perspective, joining family members by means of the family reunification provisions of the US immigration policy is the dominant explanation for legal immigration to the US in a sample of 1340 adults in Philippine households in 1982.     

The economic determinants of Canada's multicultural immigration

The economic factors that have affected immigration and immigration policy in Canada over time are considered. The important contribution of immigrants from many cultural backgrounds to the economic development of the country is noted. The resulting multiethnic composition of the population is also discussed. (summary in FRE, SPA)     

Recent Immigration to Canada and the United States: A Mixed Tale of Relative Selection

Using large‐scale census data and adjusting for sending‐country fixed effect to account for changing composition of immigrants, we study relative immigrant selection to Canada and the U.S. during 1990–2006, a period characterized by diverging immigration policies in the two countries. Results show a gradual change in selection patterns in educational attainment and host‐country language proficiency in favor of Canada as its post‐1990 immigration policy allocated more points to the human capital of new entrants. Specifically, in 1990, new immigrants in Canada were less likely to have a B.A. degree than those in the U.S.; they were also less likely to have a highschool or lower education. By 2006, Canada surpassed the U.S. in drawing highly educated immigrants, while continuing to attract fewer low‐educated immigrants. Canada also improved its edge over the U.S. in terms of host‐country language proficiency of new immigrants. Entry‐level earnings, however, do not reflect the same trend: Recent immigrants to Canada have experienced a wage disadvantage compared to recent immigrants to the U.S., as well as Canadian natives. One plausible explanation is that while the Canadian points system has successfully attracted more educated immigrants, it may not be effective in capturing productivity‐related traits that are not easily measurable.     

Race,class and the shaping of a policy for immigrants: the case of the Netherlands

Ethnic stratification constitutes a (potential) threat to social stability. The major factors that determine the immigrants' position are 1) ethnic differences between them and the original population (and among the various immigrant groups themselves) and 2) the social system of the receiving society and the way in which the major distribution mechanisms in that system operate. For a very long period immigration policy in the Netherlands was based on the principle that it was not a country of immigration and it would not become one. Thus, it had a rather liberal admissions policy until 1980 because immigration was not expected to lead to permanent settlement. Ethnic minority groups constitute about 4.3% of the total population, but they are heavily overrepresented in the metropolitan areas. The culturalist approach in Dutch policy allowed opportunities for migrants to retain their own "cultural identity." During the 1970s the government supported the creation of a variety of institutions which served exclusively the different immigrant groups. After the policy change in the 1980s the Dutch allowed the immigrant institutions to continue to exist, to provide a "shelter" which would help the migrants emancipate within Dutch society. Meanwhile, they launched campaigns to inform the Dutch about immigrant cultures. This approach encountered difficulties: 1) the relatively small size of each immigrant group, the large and growing differences and oppositions within these groups, and their geographical dispersal, often made it impossible to set up separate institutions with even minimal viability; 2) there was a lack of leaders in most minority groups; 3) the economic crisis of the early 1980s hit the immigrants much more strongly than the general population; and 4) a "blame-the-victim" attitude developed among a growing number of Dutchmen. In 1983 the government shifted to a structuralist approach, by striving to overcome social disadvantage and achieve legal equality. This approach also has its limitations. Recently, institutional racism has been growing. The government now aims to have immigrants proportionally represented in all major institutions, but it is only on a voluntary basis. The author concludes: 1) both the cultural and the structuralist approach are insufficient in overcoming the migrants marginal position; and 2) culturalist and structuralist approaches clash sometimes. Ethnic pluralism should no longer be viewed as a stage in integration processes, but rather as one of its possible outcomes.     

Toward a prediction of third-world immigrants into Canada, 1973-1985

The author examines trends in migratory movements to Canada between 1949 and 1972 in an attempt to determine the statistical regularity of immigration from developing countries and to predict the probable number of third world immigrants to Canada for the period 1973-1985. The effects on migration of political factors and of variables associated with the area of origin are studied (SUMMARY IN FRE, SPA)     

Caribbean immigrants in Britain and Canada: socio-economic adjustment

This paper compares the socioeconomic experiences of Caribbean immigration in Britain and Canada and shows how differing immigration trends together with changing economic circumstances influenced the process of integration. Caribbean immigrants in Canada are more recent arrivals than those in Britain and, in 1981, were still experiencing initial adjustment problems aggravated by an economy in which unemployment is still high. Unlike Britain, which has a large population born in that country of West Indian parentage, the "2nd generation" in Canada is small and mostly still in school. Despite higher levels of education and qualifications than their counterparts in Britain, Caribbean immigrants in Canada faced similar problems. Males were relatively more concentrated in manufacturing industries in Canada and in transportation in Britain, sectors which were undergoing significant structural change and experiencing high levels of unemployment. Earned income was below average in both countries but there were interesting gender differences. Caribbean women experienced the same "earnings gap", relative to men, that characterized most women in the labor force. However, Caribbean women were relatively more successful than men, as measured by unemployment rates and earned incomes. This appears to be due to their qualifications in nursing and other service occupations that continued to expand, and to be in demand in the 1970s and 1980s, when other occupations were declining in response to technological change and "post-industrial" developments. In both countries there were residual disadvantages, faced by Caribbean men and women, which cannot be statistically explained by factors such as age, education, period of immigration, or structural changes in the economy. These can be attributed, at least in part, to the institutionalized prejudice and discrimination against racial minorities which is prevalent in both societies. In absolute terms Caribbean immigrants in Canada are clearly better off than their counterparts in Britain. However, relative to other immigrants, and the native-born population with similar demographic characteristics and educational qualifications, those in Canada experience similar disadvantages.     

Post-1945 international migration: New Zealand,Australia and Canada compared

"New Zealand's immigration policies and trends since 1945 are compared with those of Canada and Australia. For most of this period, Australia has pursued the more expansive immigration policy while Canada and New Zealand have tended to link immigration intakes to fluctuations in labor demand. All three countries initially discriminated against non-European immigrants but gradually moved towards nondiscriminatory policies based on similar selection criteria and means of assessment. New Zealand has traditionally been more cautious than both Canada and Australia in terms of how many immigrants it accepted and from what sources, but it has recently followed the other two in raising immigration targets encouraging migration from nontraditional sources, particularly Asian countries. Historical, global and national factors are drawn upon to explain the degree of convergence between these three societies."     

Post-war immigration in the United States and the state of Minnesota: the process of entering an all-American community

The author focuses on characteristics of Polish immigrants in Minnesota in the years since World War II. Particular attention is given to the immigrants' adaptation to the American way of life and to democratic institutions after being accustomed to centralized power in a socialist system. "This article is based on participant observation, publications concerning immigration to the United States, and unstructured interviews with newcomers from Poland and other Eastern European countries." Distinctions are made among the characteristics of Polish-Americans, pre-World War II immigrants, war immigrants, and those who have come during the last 20 years, including groups that the author identifies as the "calculated-decision" immigrants, the post-Solidarity immigrants, and the "adjusted visitor" immigrants. Consideration is given to the demographic characteristics, legal status, education and employment, and territorial mobility of 35 Poles living in Minnesota who were interviewed by the author. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

The Human Capital Model of Selection and Immigrant Economic Outcomes

This article examines the trends in the economic advantage that highly educated immigrants hold over less educated immigrants in Canada, focusing on the differences between short‐run and longer‐run outcomes. Using data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database covering the period from the 1980s to the 2000s, this study finds that the relative entry earnings advantage that higher education provides to new immigrants has decreased dramatically over the last 30 years. However, university‐educated immigrants had a much steeper earnings trajectory than immigrants with trades or a high school education. The earnings advantage among highly educated immigrants increases significantly with time spent in Canada. This pattern is observed for virtually all immigrant classes and arrival cohorts. The results suggest that short‐run economic outcomes of immigrants are not good predictors of longer‐run results, at least by educational attainment. The implications of these findings for immigration selection policy are discussed in the conclusion.     

Earning Gaps for Chinese Immigrants in Canada and the United States

This study compares the US and Canada on the gap in earnings between Chinese immigrants and native‐born whites. Canada and the US are arguably more alike than most possible country pairings, yet they differ in significant ways in their approaches to immigration and integration. The primary difference between Canada and the US regarding immigration policy is that Canada selects a larger proportion of economic immigrants – that is, those admitted based on their ability to contribute to the economy – than the US's focus on family reunification. Canadian immigration and multicultural integration policy does not appear to improve Chinese immigrant earnings in the way that might be predicted from Canada's skilled‐based immigrant selection policy and welcoming social context. In spite of a more laissez‐faire approach to immigrant integration and a less skill‐selective immigration policy, we show that Chinese immigrants are earning relatively more in the US than in Canada.     

Ethnic Self‐Identification of First‐Generation Immigrants1

This paper uses the concept of ethnic self‐identification of immigrants in a two‐dimensional framework. It acknowledges that attachments to both the country of origin and the host country are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There are three possible paths of adjustment from separation at entry, namely the transitions to assimilation, integration, and marginalization. We analyze the determinants of ethnic self‐identification in this process using samples of first‐generation male and female immigrants, and controlling for pre‐ and post‐immigration characteristics. While we find strong gender differences, a wide range of pre‐immigration characteristics like education in the country of origin are not important.     

The employment effects of immigration: a balance sheet approach

The impact of immigration on unemployment in Canada is examined for the period 1983-1985. The authors attempt to construct a balance sheet of immigration in terms of labor supply and demand. They conclude that immigrants create more jobs than they fill, and that their net effect on the employment situation is positive. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)