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Ethnic Minority Immigrants and their Children in Britain

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Author Info
Christian Dustmann () (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London)
Nikolaos Theodoropoulos (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration(CReAM), University College London.)

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Abstract

According to the 2001 UK Census ethnic minority groups account for 4.6 million or 7.9 percent of the total UK population. The 2001 British Labour Force Survey indicates that the descendants of Britain’s ethnic minority immigrants form an important part of the British population (2.8 percent) and of the labour force (2.1 percent). In this paper, we use data from the British Labour Force Survey over the period 1979-2005 to investigate educational attainment and economic behaviour of ethnic minority immigrants and their children in Britain. We compare different ethnic minority groups born in Britain to their parent’s generation and to equivalent groups of white native born individuals. Intergenerational comparisons suggest that British born ethnic minorities are on average more educated than their parents as well more educated than their white native born peers. Despite their strong educational achievements, we find that ethnic minority immigrants and their British born children exhibit lower employment probabilities than their white native born peers. However, significant differences exist across immigrant/ethnic groups and genders. British born ethnic minorities appear to have slightly higher wages than their white native born peers. But if British born ethnic minorities were to face the white native regional distribution and were attributed white native characteristics, their wages would be considerably lower. The substantial employment gap between British born ethnic minorities and white natives cannot be explained by observable differences. We suggest some possible explanations for these gaps.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London in its series CReAM Discussion Paper Series with number 0610.

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Date of creation: Oct 2006
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Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:0610

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Related research
Keywords: Ethnic Minorities/Immigrants; Education; Intergenerational comparisons; Employment; Wages;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination
I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2006. "Testing for Employee Discrimination in Britain using Matched Employer-Employee Data," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 8-2006, University of Cyprus Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Kucera, Miroslav, 2008. "The Educational Attainment of Second Generation Immigrants in Canada: Analysis based on the General Social Survey," MPRA Paper 14036, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Aydemir, Abdurrahman & Chen, Wen-Hao & Corak, Miles, 2008. "Intergenerational Education Mobility among the Children of Canadian Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 3759, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Stephen Drinkwater & John Eade & Michal Garapich, 2006. "Poles Apart? EU Enlargement and the Labour Market Outcomes of Immigrants in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 2410, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Abdurrahman Aydemir & Wen-Hao Chen & Miles Corak, 2006. "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility among the Children of Canadian Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 2085, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Zaiceva, Anzelika & Zimmermann, Klaus F, 2007. "Children, Kitchen, Church: Does Ethnicity Matter?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6491, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Nekby, Lena & Özcan, Gülay, 2007. "Do Domestic Educations Even Out the Playing Field? Ethnic Labor Market Gaps in Sweden," SULCIS Working Papers 2007:3, Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Stephen Pudney & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2006. "Firm-Specific Gender and Ethnicity Pay Differentials in Britain," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 9-2006, University of Cyprus Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Yann Algan & Christian Dustmann & Albrecht Glitz & Alan Manning, 2009. "The Economic Situation of First- and Second-Generation Immigrants in France, Germany, and the UK," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0922, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London. [Downloadable!]
  10. Christian N. Brinch, Bernt Bratsberg and Oddbjørn Raaum, 2008. "The Effects of an Upper Secondary Education Reform on the Attainment of Immigrant Youth," Discussion Papers 528, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  11. Aydemir, Abdurrahman & Chen, Wen-Hao & Corak, Miles, 2008. "Intergenerational Education Mobility Among the Children of Canadian Immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2008316e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
  12. Sayema H. Bidisha, . "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility of Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities in the UK," Discussion Papers 09/10, University of Nottingham, GEP. [Downloadable!]
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