A Demographic Profile of Black Caribbean Immigrants in the United States
Black Caribbean immigrants out-earn better-educated Black African immigrants in the U.S. labor market, driven largely by English fluency and longer U.S. tenure.
Immigration from the Caribbean to the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning largely after changes to U.S. immigration law in 1965 that placed a new priority on family-based migration. This report, part of MPI's Young Children of Black Immigrants in America research initiative, provides a demographic profile of the 1.7 million Caribbean immigrants in the United States: their geographic settlement, education and workforce characteristics, earnings, modes of entry, family structure, and more.
Despite relatively low educational attainment, English-speaking Black Caribbean immigrants earn more in the U.S. labor market than Black African immigrants, who are among the best-educated immigrants in the United States. This earnings gap may be explained in part by the fact that Caribbean immigrants tend to have been in the United States longer and have greater English-language proficiency.
The share of Black immigrants varies across Caribbean-origin countries: they are the vast majority of immigrants from Haiti and most other English-speaking countries in the region, 14 percent of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, and just 3 percent from Cuba.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Trends, Diversity, and Origins
III. Modes of Entry and Legal Status
IV. Geographic Settlement Patterns
V. Human-Capital Characteristics
VI. Employment and Earnings
VII. Demographic Characteristics: Age and Sex Distribution
VIII. Family Structure
IX. Conclusions
About the Young Children in Black Immigrant Families Project
This project examined the health, development, and school outcomes of U.S. children in Black immigrant families from birth to age ten, and the policy implications for education, health care, child care, and integration.
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
