Foreign Born Latina Earnings and Returns to Education and Experience in the United States

The determinants of immigrant earnings have long been a heavily researched topic, beginning with the contributions of Chiswick (1978) and Borjas (1985). The majority of this work focuses on male immigrants. Prior findings provide conflicting results with respect to determinants of native and foreign-born earnings in the U.S. This study, however, focuses on the earnings levels and differential returns to education and experience between native and foreign-born Latina workers in the U.S. using pooled American Community Survey microdata from 2014, 2015, and 2016. The analytical approach borrows from Chiswick’s 1978 paper that utilized cross-sectional regression methods and the human capital framework in comparing native and foreign-born earnings. Our findings demonstrate that foreign-born Latina workers earn 17 percent less than native-born Latina workers. The results also show that native-born Latinas receive greater returns to educational attainment and labor market experience than foreign-born Latinas.

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