ASSIMILATION AND CHANGES IN COHORT QUALITY REVISITED - WHAT HAPPENED TO IMMIGRANT EARNINGS IN THE 1980S

This article uses the 1970, 1980, and 1990 Public Use Samples of the U .S. census to document what happened to immigrant earnings in the 1980 s and to determine if pre-1980 immigrant flows reached earnings parity with natives. The relative entry wage of successive immigrant cohorts declined by 9% in the 1970s and by an additional 6% in the 1980s. Alt hough the relative wage of immigrants grows by 10% during the first 2 decades after arrival, recent immigrants will earn 15%-20% less than n atives throughout much of their working lives.