Diverse Fortunes in Different Countries?: Earnings of White and Black Immigrant Generations in Canada and the United States

Monica Boyd, University of Toronto

This paper presents earnings determination models for non-Hispanic Whites and Black men and women age 25-44 , disaggregated by generational status into second and third plus groups (Canada) and those arriving as children or as young adolescents and those arriving after age 15 (both countries). Data from the 1% public use file from the 2000 United States Census and the master database of the 2001 Canadian Census at Statistics Canada are used to show the relative advantages and disadvantages experienced by Black groups defined by source countries or regions and by generational status compared to the non-Hispanic White majority. Results for the 2nd and 1.5 generations are mixed, partly reflecting their young age compositions and their higher educational attainments. However, in both countries, Black immigrants arriving later in life earn less than either the White native born or White immigrants.