Immigrant workers earn way less than natives in Western countries: here’s why
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An international study has revealed that immigrants across Europe and North America face a significant pay gap compared to native-born workers, earning on average 17.9% less per year. The research, published in Nature, examined salary data from 13.5 million workers in nine countries between 2016 and 2019, including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, and several Nordic states.
Lack of access to high-paying jobs
The study found that the majority of this income gap—about three-quarters—stems not from unequal pay for equal work, but from immigrants being concentrated in lower-paying sectors and positions. Even when immigrants and natives held the same job at the same company, a 4.6% gap remained, suggesting factors such as weaker bargaining power, productivity differences, or discrimination, Portfolio writes.
At an industry level, the disparity was 13%, while within specific occupations it narrowed to around 8–9%. The findings indicate that immigrants tend to have limited access to high-prestige and better-paying roles, often ending up in less lucrative or less productive firms.
Country-by-country differences
The pay gap varied considerably between countries.
- Spain and Canada recorded the largest disparities, where immigrants earned nearly 29% less than natives.
- In Germany, France, Norway, and the Netherlands, the gap ranged between 15% and 20%.
- At the other end of the scale, the difference was under 10% in the United States, Sweden, and Denmark. Sweden’s relatively smaller gap has been linked to immigrants’ strong participation in the public sector.
Where immigrants come from matters
The size of the pay gap also depended heavily on workers’ origins. Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa faced the steepest disadvantage, earning 26% less than locals, even within the same occupation. Workers from the Middle East and North Africa also experienced significant shortfalls, averaging 23.7% less. In contrast, immigrants arriving from other Western countries saw only a 9% wage gap.
Geez, it’s not rocket science.
1. Their education is not of the Western standard. Even if they have vocational or college degrees, the quality of the institutions they earned them from is (ostensibly) not on par with their Western counterparts.
2. Due to fewer employment opportunities in their home countries, they either lack experience or their experience is limited.
3. Western countries have all kinds of additional labor rules, such as O.S.H.A. or environmental protection laws, which these people are generally unfamiliar with.
Therefore, migrants have lower qualifications and less experience, and they need more training. OF COURSE they end up getting paid less!
Oh Steiner, you again pollute this article by your idiotness!!
Read silently only once and let us decide !!!