The Occupational Mobility of Mexican Migrants in the United States

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the pre-to-post migration occupational mobility of Mexican migrants to the U.S. using occupation and migration histories from the Mexican Migration Project. We compare the first occupation in the U.S. to the last occupation in Mexico, and the occupation in the last year spent in the U.S. to the occupation in the first year, by sex, using multinomial logistic regression models. The multivariate analyses account for individual, migration, and context characteristics. Our findings show rigidities in occupational structure for migrants and low opportunities for mobility after migration. Most men experience lateral mobility upon arriving to the U.S., and are unlikely to change occupations afterwards. Most women enter lower-status occupations or exit the labor force upon arrival, especially if highly educated or skilled. Undocumented men and university educated women are more likely to experience downward mobility. These patterns remain even after accounting for migrant networks.

The return-on-education gap between hispanics and non-hispanic whites

“…Although Mexican and Central American immigrants are thought to be negatively selected in terms of education (Borjas, 1987;Feliciano, 2005), recent research finds that, relative to those working in the same occupation, Mexican migrants are positively selected within their occupation (Villarreal, 2016). This is consistent with previous expectations of occupational mismatch among immigrants, whereby foreign workers often end up in jobs for which they are over-prepared (Sánchez-Soto and Singelmann, 2017;Villarreal and Tamborini, 2018;Sanroma et al, 2015). Besides the educational selectivity of immigrants, gender in-equality patterns in the labor market of the home country also influence the educational selectivity of female immigrants (Huh, 2017;Hoover and Yaya, 2010).…”

“…Previous research has found that immigrants are likely to experience no returns to their work experience prior to migration, and overall, human capital acquired in the place of origin is less likely to transfer to the place of destination (Ferrer and Riddell, 2008;Dell'Aringa et al, 2015;Perry, The return-on-education gap between hispanics and non-hispanic whites /G. SÁNCHEZ-SOTO et al 2017). However, the transferability of human capital is also dependent on the cultural proximity between the country of origin and destination.…”

“…However, even when earnings approach convergence, a gap remains and the rate at which immigrants earnings increase is lower than that for natives (Decudesl, 2005). Although the labor market integration of immigrants varies overtime, in some countries being an immigrant is related to fewer job changes and limited occupational mobility after the first job in the destination country (Brenzel and Reichelt, 2017;Sánchez-Soto and Singelmann, 2017). Other research finds that, regardless of the time spent in the labor market, nativity and citizenship status remain important determinants.…”

“…However, scant attention has been given to immigrants, and rarely has a distinction been made among Hispanics of different national origins. Since there is a well-documented gap in educational achievement by race and ethnicity in the U.S., and immigrants who enter the country often have difficulties joining the labor market at the levels of skill their education would allow in their countries of origin (Sánchez-Soto and Singelmann, 2017), it is important to estimate the influence of ethnicity and immigrant status on the gains from schooling these groups experience relative to non-Hispanic whites. At the individual level, immigrant's human capital characteristics such as education, work experience, and language skills play an important role in the likelihood of obtaining wages commensurate to their schooling (Chiswick and Miller, 2008;Chiswick and Miller, 2009;Dell' Aringa et al, 2015).…”

“…The importance of this research resides in the need for a comparison that identifies differences between U.S. born groups and foreign-born Hispanic immigrants. Immigrants face specific difficulties entering and integrating into the labor market in the destination countries (Sánchez-Soto and Singelmann, 2017;Dell' Aringa et al, 2015). These difficulties include specific barriers to employment in the U.S. that are related to an inability on the part of migrants to translate their education in the place of origin into an appropriate occupation to gain commensurate earnings.…”