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Does Skin Tone Matter? Immigrant Mobility in the U.S. Labor Market

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  • JooHee Han

    (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

A rich literature has documented the negative association between dark skin tone and many dimensions of U.S.-born Americans’ life chances. Despite the importance of both skin tone and immigration in the American experience, few studies have explored the effect of skin tone on immigrant assimilation longitudinally. I analyze data from the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) 2003 to examine how skin tone is associated with occupational achievement at three time points: the last job held abroad, the first job held in the United States, and the current job. Dark-skinned immigrants experience steeper downward mobility at arrival in the United States and slower subsequent upward mobility relative to light-skinned immigrants, net of human and social capital, race/ethnicity, country of origin, visa type, and demographics. These findings shed light on multiple current literatures, including segmented assimilation theory, the multidimensionality of race, and the U.S. racial hierarchy.

Suggested Citation

  • JooHee Han, 2020. "Does Skin Tone Matter? Immigrant Mobility in the U.S. Labor Market," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 705-726, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:57:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s13524-020-00867-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-020-00867-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Catron, Peter & Loria, Maria Vignau, 2021. "The Economic Attainment of Mexican Refugees during the Age of Mass Migration," SocArXiv qgj3p, Center for Open Science.
    3. Búi K Petersen & James Chowhan & Gordon B Cooke & Ray Gosine & Peter J Warrian, 2023. "Automation and the future of work: An intersectional study of the role of human capital, income, gender and visible minority status," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 703-727, August.
    4. Carvalho, J.R. & de Oliveira, V.H. & Ferreira Soares, S.P., 2023. "Skin Color Gap within Couples and Intimate Partner Violence in Northeast, Brazil: Evidence from the PCSVDFMulher," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/01, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.

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