An analysis of labour market integration of visible minorities in Canada: the case of South Asians

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Date
2019-08-28
Authors
Debbarman, Shantanu
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Abstract
This study examines the patterns of visible minorities’ (South Asian and non-South Asian) assimilation in Canada compared to not a visible minority group by their generation status and gender. With a focus on three aspects of incorporation: labour force status, employment status, and occupation, separate analyses are conducted for four South Asian visible minority subgroups- Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, and Sri Lankans using micro-data based on 25 percent population sample drawn from the 2016 census of Canada. Multinomial logit models were estimated. Among the immigrants, regardless the gender, South Asian and non-South Asian visible minorities are associated with greater disadvantage in the labour market than the not a visible minority. Though, the likelihood of finding a professional/technical/managerial job is higher for second and third generation South Asian and non-South Asian visible minorities than not a visible minority, the likelihood of being out of labour force and remaining unemployed is also higher than not visible minorities. Moreover, the relative disadvantage for being in the labour force and employed is higher for South Asian than non-South Asian visible minorities in second and third-generations. The results indicate that the likelihood of being out of labour force and unemployed is lower for older people, but this likelihood increases with age at a declining rate. Similarly, higher employment probability in professional/technical/managerial job is recorded for a university degree holder than a non-university degree holder, for a female worker than a male worker (except first generation), for the worker who uses official languages at home than the worker who does not (except third generation), for owner of house than tenant, and for the individual who do not receive child benefits. The likelihood of becoming out of labour force is higher for a female who has a child under 5 years old and married than a male worker who has a child under 5 years old and married. Separate analyses of South Asian countries also revealed that age, university degree, gender, use of official language at home, marital status, having child of age 5 and below, owner of the house, child benefits and years since immigration variables have statistically significant effect on labour market performance.
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Visible minority, South Asian, Immigrants, Labour force participation, Employment, Canada
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