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Wages of UK immigrant men across generations: who catches up?

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  • Nico Ochmann

Abstract

This article examines UK immigrant-native wage differentials for men across major first- and second-generation immigrant groups with the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) pooling cross-sections over the years 2009–19. I find that first-generation immigrants with UK human capital experience less of a wage disadvantage than their immigrant counterparts with foreign language proficiency, qualifications, and work experience. Conditional on the heterogeneity in these productivity characteristics of first-generation immigrants, I observe no intergenerational economic progress across the two generations relative to UK natives. Using a conditional decomposition shows that UK work experience and not the source country of study for the qualification is a key factor in reducing first-generation, immigrant-native wage differentials in the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Nico Ochmann, 2024. "Wages of UK immigrant men across generations: who catches up?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 395-411.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:76:y:2024:i:2:p:395-411.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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