ARCHIVED – Immigrant income and the family

VIII. Future research

Years since landing effects
This paper was a snapshot of the immigrant and non-immigrant population in 2003. However, the LAD offers the opportunity to look at both landing year and tax year, allowing for an analysis of the effects of years since landing. A longitudinal approach would offer information on how the income situations of immigrants and their families change with more time spent in Canada. This type of an analysis would shed light on the family income strategy that immigrants employ as they integrate into the country and the labour market.

Closer look at immigrant families
This analysis looked at the individual captured in LAD and then analyzed that individual’s contribution to the family. Information on immigrant status was known only for the individual and not the additional family members. To better understand the income situations of immigrant families it is necessary to narrow down the population further. Although the result is a smaller population, it is possible in the LAD to match spouses/partners by immigrant status. Therefore, an immigrant with an immigrant spouse/partner can be compared to a non-immigrant with a non-immigrant spouse/partner (or to an immigrant with a non-immigrant spouse/partner).

Parents and grandparents
Previous research showed that parents and grandparents behave very differently from other family class immigrants, especially with respect to retirement income since roughly half of parents and grandparents are 60 or older at landing. Additionally, parents and grandparents have different sponsorship agreements than other family class immigrants which may affect their eligibility to receive income from certain sources (social assistance, Old Age Security, and Guaranteed Income Supplement/Allowance). To gain a better understanding of how the income situation of parents and grandparents compare to that of senior non-immigrants it is better to look at them separate from other family class immigrants.

Immigrant Lone-Parents and Unattached Immigrants
Throughout the analysis there are notable differences in the income situations of married males and married females. It would be useful to know what gender differences exist for lone-parents and unattached individuals as well. Especially given that unattached immigrants account for approximately one-third of immigrant population aged 60 or older.

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