Feng Hou | University of Victoria (original) (raw)

Papers by Feng Hou

IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 2017

While destination-country education provides many potential advantages for immigrants, empirical ... more While destination-country education provides many potential advantages for immigrants, empirical studies in Australia, Canada and the USA have produced mixed results on the labour outcomes of immigrants who are former international students. This study uses large national longitudinal datasets to examine cross-cohort trends and within-cohort changes in earnings among three groups of young university graduates: immigrants who are former international students in Canada (Canadian-educated immigrants), foreign-educated immigrants who had a university degree before immigrating to Canada and the Canadian-born population. The results show that Canadian-educated immigrants on average had much lower earnings than the Canadian-born population but higher earnings than foreign-educated immigrants both in the short run and in the long run. However, Canadian-educated immigrants are a highly heterogeneous group, and the key factor differentiating their post-immigration earnings from the earnings ...

This policy brief focuses on changes in the wages of university educated new immigrants over the ... more This policy brief focuses on changes in the wages of university educated new immigrants over the 1980-2005 period in Canada and the United States. Generally speaking, wage outcomes for this group were superior in the U.S. Wages of university educated new immigrants relative to domestic born university graduates declined in Canada over that period but rose in the United States. Also, the university wage premium — the difference in the wages of the university and high school educated — for new immigrants was similar in both countries in 1980, but rose over the next two decades in the United States while staying fairly static in Canada. The vast majority of this difference occurred in the 1990s, and coincided with a larger influx of immigrants to Canada than the United States, relative to the 1980s levels, and more of them arriving with degrees. The paper discusses a number of possible reasons for this divergence in immigrant wages between the two countries.

WIDER Working Paper, 2017

This study has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER initiative on 'Forced Migration and Inequality:... more This study has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER initiative on 'Forced Migration and Inequality: County-and City-level Factors that Influence Refugee Integration', which is part of the UNU-WIDER project on 'The politics of group-based inequalities-measurement, implications, and possibilities for change', which is part of a larger research project on 'Disadvantaged groups and social mobility'.

International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2017

This study examines the acculturation, experiences of discrimination and wellbeing of a represent... more This study examines the acculturation, experiences of discrimination and wellbeing of a representative sample of over 3000 adult second generation of immigrants in Canada; 43% were born in Canada, while 57% immigrated before the age of 12 years. Four acculturation profiles were created using two sense of belonging questions: those who have strong sense of belonging to both Canada and own ethnic group (integrated); those who have a strong sense of belonging to Canada only (assimilated); those who have strong sense of belonging to own ethnic group only (separated); and those who have weak sense of belonging to both Canada or own ethnic group (marginalised). In the study sample, 75% are in the integration group, 15% in assimilation, 6% in separation, and 5% in marginalization. Wellbeing is assessed with two questions about life satisfaction and self-rated mental health. Those in the integration group have a significantly higher level on both measures of wellbeing. The experience of discrimination is significantly associated with being in the separation group. The effect of discrimination on wellbeing varied by acculturation profile: marginalization amplifies the effect of discrimination, while assimilation mitigates it. Social and demographic factors also affect wellbeing, particularly having low levels of education, income and employment. Implications for the settlement process are suggested.

Transcultural Psychiatry, 2017

Do refugees have lower levels of positive mental health than other migrants? If so, to what exten... more Do refugees have lower levels of positive mental health than other migrants? If so, to what extent is this attributable to post-migration experiences, including discrimination? How does gender affect the relationships between post-migration experience and positive mental health? To address these questions, the current study uses data from Statistics Canada’s 2013 General Social Survey (GSS), a nationally representative household study that included 27,695 Canadians 15 years of age and older. The study compares self-reported positive mental health among 651 refugees, 309 economic immigrants, and 448 family class immigrants from 50 source countries. Immigration-related predictors of mental health were examined including sociodemographic characteristics, discrimination, acculturation variables, and experiences of reception. Separate analyses were carried out for women and men. Refugees had lower levels of positive mental health than other migrants. Affiliative feelings towards the sour...

Ethnicity & health, Jan 17, 2017

The increased migration of skilled workers has resulted in a focus on the economic costs of their... more The increased migration of skilled workers has resulted in a focus on the economic costs of their unsuccessful labor market integration. Few studies investigate the consequences of employment difficulties on immigrants' well-being. Researchers studying over-education and life satisfaction tend to only examine the general population despite high levels of over-education among skilled immigrants. This study examines the relationship between over-education and life satisfaction among both immigrant and native-born workers in Canada. Factors associated with immigrants specifically (e.g. years since migration) are also considered. Descriptive and multivariate analyses are conducted using pooled data from the 2009 to 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Ordinary-least-squares (OLS) regression models are estimated with life satisfaction as the outcome. The models are run separately for immigrant and Canadian-born workers, accounting for differences in the degree to which indiv...

Work, Employment and Society, 2015

Previous studies find a strong association between source country female labour force participati... more Previous studies find a strong association between source country female labour force participation level and immigrant women’s labour market activity in the host country. This relationship is interpreted as the continued influence of source country gender role attitudes on women’s labour market behaviour. This article argues that the effect of source country female labour force participation rates extends beyond gender role attitudes by also contributing to labour market skills which help immigrant women navigate the host country labour market. When gender role attitudes are accounted for, source country female labour force participation rate is a strong predictor of immigrant women’s earnings in Canada. This is largely explained by differential occupational allocation in the host country.

This study examines trends in the internal migration of the Canadian-born and long-term immigrant... more This study examines trends in the internal migration of the Canadian-born and long-term immigrants into and out of Canada's three largest metropolitan areas.

A partir de l'Enquete sur la diversite ethnique de 2002, le present article examine les diff... more A partir de l'Enquete sur la diversite ethnique de 2002, le present article examine les differences de groupe selon l'origine nationale en ce qui a trait au niveau de scolarite universitaire chez les enfants d'immigrants au Canada. Nous avons determine que les enfants de parents immigrants de la plupart des groupes de regions d'origine affichent des taux de diplomation universitaire plus eleves que les enfants de parents nes au Canada, partiellement en raison du niveau de scolarite plus eleve de leurs parents. Les enfants des immigrants de la Chine et de l'Inde atteignent notamment des niveaux de scolarite plus eleves que les enfants de parents nes au Canada. Le niveau de scolarite des parents est egalement important pour expliquer les taux relativement faibles de diplomation universitaire chez les Portugais.

Environment and Planning A, 2006

In this paper we explore the links between internal migration and international immigration in Ca... more In this paper we explore the links between internal migration and international immigration in Canada's three largest metropolitan areas. In particular, we use a place-specific approach to test the displacement hypothesis that the migration behaviour of the less-well-educated native-born population is sensitive to the inflows of immigrants. Based on analyses of microdata from five consecutive censuses covering the period from 1981 to 2001, we find that the migration–immigration relationships are complex, often subtle, and inconsistent across the three cities. Growth in the immigrant population is correlated with an increased out-migration rate among the less-well-educated native-born population, but only in Toronto and Vancouver. This correlation, however, is not independent of changes in housing prices. We also find no consistent support for an alternative hypothesis that economic restructuring accounts for the net out-migration from immigrant gateway cities.

Social Indicators Research, 2013

ABSTRACT Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS) and Canadian Community Health Survey (CC... more ABSTRACT Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS) and Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) offer a valuable opportunity to examine the stability of life satisfaction responses and their correlates from year to year within a consistent analytical framework. Capitalizing on the strengths of these surveys, this paper addresses two questions. First, how much variability is observed from year to year and across surveys in the distribution of life satisfaction responses and what accounts for it? Second, how much variability is observed in the direction and magnitude of the correlation between life satisfaction and a consistent set of socioeconomic characteristics? The study shows that the mean level of life satisfaction reported varies from year to year in the GSS but remains stable in the CCHS. This pattern in variability is associated with survey content preceding the life satisfaction question. In contrast, the direction and magnitude of the relationships between life satisfaction and common socioeconomic characteristics is generally consistent between the two surveys and over time.

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2015

ABSTRACT Studies of immigrant well-being primarily focus on economic outcomes. However, immigrant... more ABSTRACT Studies of immigrant well-being primarily focus on economic outcomes. However, immigrants often cite a desire to improve their general quality of life as their main motivation for migrating. This study compares life satisfaction among recent immigrants in Canada with life satisfaction in their country of origin and with the Canadian-born population, and provides an evaluation of the role that national-level economic and social factors play in immigrants’ life satisfaction. The results indicate that most immigrant groups have higher life satisfaction than their source country counterparts. The majority of immigrant groups examined also have life satisfaction scores similar to those of the native-born population, a finding that indicates that national-level conditions matter for immigrants’ life satisfaction.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Health reports / Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Health Information = Rapports sur la santé / Statistique Canada, Centre canadien d'information sur la santé

This analysis examines the prevalence of self-reported unmet needs for health care and the extent... more This analysis examines the prevalence of self-reported unmet needs for health care and the extent to which they were attributable to perceived problems with service availability or accessibility or acceptability. Most data are from the 1998/99 cross-sectional household component of Statistics Canada&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s National Population Health Survey; 1994/95 and 1996/97 cross-sectional data are used to present trends from 1994/95 to 1998/99. The primary analysis is based on 14, 143 respondents aged 18 or older. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the association of risk factors with the three types of unmet health care need. In 1998/99, about 7% of Canadian adults, an estimated 1.5 million, reported having had unmet health care needs in the previous year. Around half of these episodes were attributable to acceptability problems such as being too busy. In 39% of cases, service availability problems, such as long waiting times, were mentioned. Just under 13% of episodes were related to accessibility problems (cost or transportation). Unmet needs attributable to service availability problems were not significantly associated with socio-economic status. By contrast, unmet needs due to accessibility problems were inversely associated with household income.