Hispanic Immigrants Earn More Money

WASHINGTON — Recently arrived Hispanic immigrants are earning more money than they did about a decade ago, according to a study released Tuesday.

The percent of recent arrivals at the lowest end of the pay scale — earning less than $8.50 per hour — has dropped from 64 percent in 1995 to 50 percent in 2005, said the report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington.

Current immigrants are older and more educated than those a decade earlier, and more likely to work in construction, which pays a higher wage than agriculture, where previous immigrants were more likely to settle, the study said.

"A lot of (the increase) has to do with construction ... the premier employer of these workers," said Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the report.

Despite the advances, many foreign-born Latinos remain at the low end of the pay scale. The total number of Hispanic immigrants who earn $8.50 per hour or less increased by 1.2 million from 1995 to 2005, the study said.

Still, all Latino immigrants — recent arrivals and those who have been in the United States for long periods of time — fared better over the 10-year period, according to the report.

Among all foreign-born Hispanics, the percent of workers earning less than $8.50 per hour decreased from 42 percent in 1995 to 36 percent in 2005. In addition, the study found that employment growth for foreign-born Hispanics was fastest in the "high-middle range" of wage distribution, which the study determined as workers who earn an average of $19.23 per hour. The number of Hispanics in that category increased by 112 percent from 1995 to 2005, the study said.

Kochhar said that the upward mobility is due in part to the strength of assimilation.

"The longer you have been here, the more likely you are to be middle wage or high wage," he said. "Assimilation is real, it works."

The study was based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which does not identify whether immigrants are legal or illegal. Therefore, the term "immigrants" includes all foreign-born individuals. Recently arrived immigrants include those who have been in the United States less than five years.

The study also found:

— There was a large drop in the percent of Mexican-born workers in the lowest end of the pay scale — from 48 percent in 1995 to 40 percent in 2005.

— Thirty-three percent of immigrants from Central America, 26 percent of immigrants from the Caribbean, and 23 percent of immigrants from South America earned less than $8.50 per hour in 2005.

— Foreign-born Asians increased their presence in the "high wage" workforce over the 10 year period. That category includes workers who earn an average of $31.73 per hour. Nearly one-third of Asian immigrants were part of that group in 2005, compared to 25 percent in 1995.

— Latino workers accounted for 13 percent of the overall labor force in 2005, up from 6 percent in 1980.

On the Web:

Pew Hispanic Center: www.pewhispanic.org