Economic outcomes of immigrant children to Canada, arriving between the years 1980-2000

A fairly important study released by StatsCan, on the economic outcomes of immigrant children to Canada (who arrived between the ages of 0-17 in the years 1980-2000) and are now between the ages of 30 and 49, i.e. millenials and gen-x’ers.

Spoiler alert, your family wealth and race (at the time of immigration) are probably the most important determinants.

Although not explicitly discussed, if you want to see the role of ‘race’ in protecting immigrant children from poor economic outcomes, look no further than Table 10. Below is a high level summary. Full study here.

“Childhood immigrants in the skilled-worker class and business class were overrepresented in high-paying occupations, including managerial, finance, natural science (professional), and social science occupations, while childhood immigrants in the live-in caregiver class or who were refugees landed in Canada were overrepresented in low-paying occupations, such as sales and services. … The observed class differences were smaller for those who arrived in early childhood (0-5) and middle childhood (6-12) than for those who arrived in adolescence (13-17). … Family income growth in the first decade after immigration had a significant effect in adolescent arrivals but not on the younger arrivals. … [T]he superior outcomes for children of business immigrants may suggest that the effect of wealth may not have been well understood. Relative to other classes, business immigrant parents did not have particularly high levels of education and official language ability, and their post-migration income in Canada was low. But, their children did better than children in other classes. Maybe family wealth, rather than income after immigration, better represents the overall economic resources that the family can use to live in affluent local communities, send children to the best schools and extracurricular activities, and seek additional educational support if needed.”