Does Skin Tone Matter? Immigrant Mobility in the U.S. Labor Market

JooHee Han ()
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JooHee Han: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Demography, 2020, vol. 57, issue 2, No 13, 705-726

Abstract: Abstract A rich literature has documented the negative association between dark skin tone and many dimensions of U.S.-born Americans’ life chances. Despite the importance of both skin tone and immigration in the American experience, few studies have explored the effect of skin tone on immigrant assimilation longitudinally. I analyze data from the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) 2003 to examine how skin tone is associated with occupational achievement at three time points: the last job held abroad, the first job held in the United States, and the current job. Dark-skinned immigrants experience steeper downward mobility at arrival in the United States and slower subsequent upward mobility relative to light-skinned immigrants, net of human and social capital, race/ethnicity, country of origin, visa type, and demographics. These findings shed light on multiple current literatures, including segmented assimilation theory, the multidimensionality of race, and the U.S. racial hierarchy.

Keywords: Skin tone discrimination; Immigration; Segmented assimilation; Occupational mobility; Multidimensionality of race (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s13524-020-00867-7

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