The Effects of English Proficiency on Earnings of U.S. Foreign-Born Immigrants: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract: This paper compares the effects of English proficiency on foreign-born male and female immigrants in the U.S. by using data from the 2001 American Community Survey. The analysis demonstrates the importance of English proficiency on earnings for foreign-born immigrants. The results indicate that male immigrants suffer increasing penalties with decreasing levels of English proficiency. However, female immigrants who speak intermediate English suffer the greatest earnings penalty. Moreover, male immigrants may benefit more from well-spoken English than female immigrants. The Quantile Regression approach is adopted to examine the effects of English proficiency’s effects across the entire earnings distribution. The relative importance of English proficiency is greater at the upper tier of the earnings distribution for immigrants as a whole. A similar pattern remains for both gender groups, although slight differences exist for either group