canadians of chinese and south asian descent earn more because many go into stem: statcan
douglas todd: the classic immigration success dream is paying off for many families in canada, with chinese and south asian men and women much more likely to have studied in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
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canadians of chinese and south asian descent born in canada are twice as likely as white and black canadians to have a degree in stem (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), which significantly enhances their lifelong earnings: statistics canada.
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the classic immigrant’s dream is working for many of the families of those who move to canada. the traditional aspiration of hard-working people around the world taking the risk to come to canada for a better economic life — especially for their children — is on display in two new statistics canada studies on education and long-term earning levels.
a statcan study released last week shows working canadians of chinese and south asian background born in canada earned significantly more money over their careers than workers of european origin born in canada. black canadians earned the least.
confirming that people of colour born in canada are much more likely than white people to be the offspring of immigrants, the research by aneta bonikowska, rené morissette and grant schellenberg tracked the earnings of canadian-born members of four ethnic groups over a 20-year period.
the researchers analyzed the anonymized census and tax statements of hundreds of thousands of people and found, for instance, that men of chinese descent born in canada earned 20 per cent more on average than white males born in canada over the period, while south asian men earned 15 per cent more. black men earned less than white men.
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white women born in canada earned cumulatively less over the two decades than women of chinese and south asian descent born in canada, but were roughly tied with black women.
the researchers found that people of chinese and south asian origin tend to concentrate in canada’s big cities, where wages are usually higher, which is one of the reasons behind their greater long-term earnings success.
in metro vancouver, 43 per cent of the population is people of european origin, 20 per cent is of chinese heritage, 14 per cent is of south asian heritage and 1.6 per cent is black people.
however, by far the most important factor behind the higher earnings of chinese and south asian people is they are much more likely to have studied in the stem fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“differences in education levels are perhaps the most striking,” say the authors of the article, titled cumulative earnings of black, chinese, south asian and white individuals born in canada.
“at least 50 per cent of chinese men and women had a bachelor’s degree or higher education, with slightly lower shares observed among south asian men and women,” said the report. “by contrast, at most 25 per cent of black and white men and women completed a bachelor’s degree.”
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chinese and south asian people were twice as likely as white and black canadians to have their degrees in a stem field, which greatly increased their earnings during the two decades.
the authors stress that their statistical work is “empirical” and doesn’t try to answer questions about issues such as racial discrimination.
in actual dollar amounts, bonikowska et al found over the period ending in 2019 that chinese canadian males earned $1.58 million (in 2019 currency) over 20 years, while south asian men earned $1.51 million, white males $1.31 million and black males $1.06 million.
in canada people of chinese (red bar) and south asian (purple bar) heritage who were born in canada had higher earnings over a 20-year period than white and black people of the same gender.
the relative cumulative earnings totals were lower for women in each racial group, which the authors largely attributed to women in general working fewer hours per week and entering less lucrative employment fields.
in regard to the traditional migrants’ dream of success in a new land, the study cites earlier statcan research showing that chinese and south asian people born in canada as the offspring of immigrants tend to be more educated and have higher earnings.
the first generation of immigrants in canada, those who pulled up stakes in the old country to move here, sometimes have lower earnings because they struggle with english or french, or have trouble getting their foreign credentials recognized, says last week’s statcan article.
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however, earlier work by statistics canada researchers wen-hao chen and feng hou found that the second generation, canadian children of all immigrants, tend to have more education and higher earnings than third, fourth and higher generation canadians. that is especially true of the children of chinese and south asian immigrants.
another statcan study conducted by bonikowska, which was also released last week, looked at 11 different ethnicities in canada and found men in all groups tend to make more than women. the gender pay gap was highest among japanese workers and lowest among black workers.
like other studies, this statcan article, which looked at all workers in canada, including migrants, concluded that “differences in weekly hours worked and section of employment explained substantial shares of the earnings difference between men and women.”
while more than nine of 10 canadian men who had jobs worked full time in the 2016 census, only filipino females put in that rate of hours on the job.
the portion of women of chinese descent who worked full time was 86 per cent, while for white women it was 83 per cent, and 76 per cent for women of korean and arab descent. men were also more likely to go into management.
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the most dramatic results revealed in both studies were the differences in education among racial groups.
fifty-two per cent of canadian-born men of chinese descent and 47 per cent of canadian-born men of south asian descent in the study had a bachelor’s degree or higher. that compared to just 19 per cent of white men born in canada and 18 per cent of black males born in canada.
twenty-four per cent of men of chinese descent had degrees in stem, a field that tends to be well-paying, as well as 20 per cent of men of south asian descent. only 5.5 per cent of white males had stem degrees, along with 4.7 per cent of black males.
in addition, 25 per cent of women of south asian descent born in canada had degrees in stem fields, as did 18 per cent of women of chinese descent born in canada. that contrasted to five per cent of white women and four per cent of black women.
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