Second Generation Of Canadian Immigrants Earn More Than Their Parents

09 Mar 2018

A new study, done by Association of Canadian Studies, which is based on the 2016 census, states that the Second-generation of Canadian immigrants has better income levels when compared to their parents.

These conclusions support the idea of families which move to Canada to present better opportunities for their children.This study had a focus on immigrants in the working age group between 35 and 44 years.

One finding states that the first-generation immigrants had a low level of performance in earnings when they belonged to visible minority groups, and it was left to the second-generation group to fill up the shortfall.

When the performance of the third generation is considered the income level diminishes, although immigrants from Japan and South Korea are exceptions.

This Report has made the Following Conclusions:

The First generation of visible-minority immigrants has an earning which is low when compared to the white immigrants, showing the advantages of those migrating to Canada from developed countries.

When all the ethnic communities are compared, second-generation immigrants have the maximum earning. These immigrants have a better performance not only compared to their parents but also their peers, among white immigrants also.

Income levels diminish for third-generation of immigrants for white and also for visible-minority immigrants, but the Koreans and Japanese are exceptions to this norm.

The finding of the report states the fact that first-generation immigrants from visible minority communities had an average post-tax income of more than $38,000, but the white immigrants had earnings around $48,000.

Second generation white immigrants had annual $54,200 earnings which were better than their parents, but they have been overtaken by the offspring of first-generation visible-minority immigrants, who had annual $56,000 earnings which translate to 47 percent increase in the yearly income when compared to their parents.

The increase is higher among offspring of immigrants belonging to South Asia. Their yearly income increased by more than 60 percent around $62,650 when compared to the average $39,000 of their parents. Second-generation of Chinese immigrants had an increase of 50 percent income when compared to their parents.

Immigrants from these two communities fared better than their white peers, but offspring of black immigrants and Latin American were behind. Their Incomes increased by 22 percent and 20 percent respectively when compared to their parents.

The report cites the sturdy increase in annual income to the efforts of the first generation which ensured that the children took advantage of moving to a new country. More expectations, combined with a focus and stress on higher education, in these communities, contributed to better annual income level.

The reasons attributed to reduced income of third-generation immigrants are many. The first generation had traditional values, and the second generation embraced values and traditions of Canada with a focus on freedom of choice.

For The third generation, the comparative prosperity of the parents made them ignore the high expectations of their communities, which was not possible for their parents /grandparents.

Third-generation of visible-minority immigrants, with the exception of Japanese and Koreans, saw a decline of 18 percent in annual income. The third generation of white immigrants saw a decline of 9 percent.

Policy Implications of the Report

This report reveals that the immigrants moved upwards socially and economically in Canada.

It made a conclusion that attempts must be made for recognizing the knowledge and skills of first-generation immigrants and allow them to have a better integration and more earning.

The reduced income among third-generation immigrants reveals that some of them adjust in a better to the knowledge-based economy, where an importance is given to innovation, adaptability, and foresight.

Another report from Statistic Canada has confirmed that the children of immigrants show a better performance in educational attainment when compared to children whose parents were Canadian-born. This is an additional benefit of immigrants arriving in Canada.

The findings reveal that children of immigrants pass from the high school at a rate of 91.6 percent when compared to 88.8 percent of third-generation children.

At the university level, this gap increased to 35.9 percent of immigrant children who completed the graduation when compared to 24.4 percent from Canadian groups.

The contribution of Immigrant Children