Unemployment patterns of local-born and immigrant youth in Hong Kong

Our study explores the unemployment patterns of local-born and immigrant youth in Hong Kong. Hong Kong provides a unique context to evaluate assimilation outcomes without a race effect. Based on data from the 2011 Hong Kong census, the findings support the classical assimilation perspective, the segmented assimilation perspective, and the paradox of assimilation. The fact that immigrant youths have higher unemployment rates than local-born youths in Hong Kong is related to their lower levels of education and arriving in Hong Kong at older ages. However, the difference in the unemployment rate between Hong Kong local and immigrant youths could be even wider if the income levels of immigrant parents were not higher. The findings suggest that the dynamics of assimilation are complicated even in places outside North America.