Immigrant-native pay gap driven by lack of access to high-paying jobs.

ABSTRACT: Immigrants to high-income countries often face considerable and persistent difficulties in the labour market^1-6, whereas their native-born children typically experience economic progress^6-9. However, little is known about the extent to which these immigrant-native earnings differences stem from unequal pay when doing the same work for the same employer versus labour market processes that sort immigrants into lower-paid jobs. Here, using data from nine European and North American countries, we show that the segregation of workers with immigrant backgrounds into lower-paying jobs accounts for about three-quarters of overall immigrant-native earnings differences. Although within-job pay inequality remains notable for immigrants in several countries, our results demonstra

SUBMITTER: Hermansen AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12390844 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature