Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025
07:34
Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients
Published on: August 22, 2018
8.2K
Colorism and immigrant earnings in the United States, 2015-2024
Joni Hersch1,2
1Vanderbilt Law School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.
Frontiers in Sociology
|December 13, 2024
Summary
Immigrants with darker skin color experience significant wage gaps, a finding consistent with previous research. This earnings penalty persists even after accounting for various labor market factors and demographic characteristics.
Area of Science:
- Economics
- Sociology
- Labor Studies
Background:
- Skin color is a significant factor in socioeconomic outcomes.
- Previous studies have indicated a wage penalty for darker-skinned immigrants.
- The Current Populations Survey (CPS) and New Immigrant Survey (NIS) provide valuable data for this analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the earnings penalty associated with darker skin color among immigrants in the US.
- To assess whether this penalty has changed between 2003 and 2015-2024.
- To examine the impact of controlling for labor market characteristics and race/ethnicity on the skin color-earnings relationship.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing data from the Current Populations Survey (2015-2024) and the New Immigrant Survey.
- Matching CPS data with skin color data from the NIS.
- Employing regression analysis to determine the association between skin color and earnings, controlling for covariates.
Main Results:
- Immigrants from countries with darker skin tones face a substantial earnings penalty.
- This penalty is comparable to estimates from earlier data (2003).
- The negative effect of darker skin tone on wages remains significant even when controlling for extensive labor market characteristics and race/ethnicity.
Conclusions:
- Skin color discrimination continues to impact immigrant earnings in the United States.
- The findings suggest that legal challenges related to color discrimination may gain traction, particularly with new government reporting categories like Middle Eastern and North African (MENA).
- Further research into the mechanisms and extent of color discrimination is warranted.
Keywords:
Current Population SurveyMENANew Immigrant Surveycolorismearningsimmigrantraceskin tone discriminationMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
90.0K
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who...
90.0K
02:16Surveys
14.7K
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
14.7K
01:19Pigmentation
2.3K
The color of the skin is influenced by a number of pigments, including melanin, carotene, and hemoglobin. Recall that melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes, which are found scattered throughout the stratum basale of the epidermis. The melanin is transferred to the keratinocytes via melanosomes.
Melanin occurs in two primary forms: eumelanin that provides black and brown pigment and pheomelanin that provides red color. Dark-skinned individuals produce more melanin than those with pale...
Melanin occurs in two primary forms: eumelanin that provides black and brown pigment and pheomelanin that provides red color. Dark-skinned individuals produce more melanin than those with pale...
2.3K
01:27Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
30
Adolescents from ethnic minority backgrounds face a multifaceted journey in forming their identities, shaped by the intersections of cultural expectations and personal exploration. For these adolescents, identity formation involves not only typical developmental challenges but also navigating the perceptions and attitudes of the majority culture. As they grow, adolescents in ethnic minority groups often become increasingly aware of stereotypes, social biases, and discrimination, all of which...
30
02:16Stereotype Content Model
14.0K
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence...
14.0K
01:08Outliers and Influential Points
4.0K
An outlier is an observation of data that does not fit the rest of the data. It is sometimes called an extreme value. When you graph an outlier, it will appear not to fit the pattern of the graph. Some outliers are due to mistakes (for example, writing down 50 instead of 500), while others may indicate that something unusual is happening. Outliers are present far from the least squares line in the vertical direction. They have large "errors," where the "error" or residual is the...
4.0K