Category Archives: EcSTATic About This
New Study: American-Born Asians Still Paid Less Than American-Born Whites [EcSTATic About This]
A new study published in the December issues of the American Sociological Review finds that Asian American men who were born and educated in America–and speak perfect English–are generally paid 8% less than equally qualified white men who were born in America. According to newswise.com, the study also found that
- First-generation Asian American men, who were born and completed their education overseas, earn 29 percent less than white men in the U.S.
- 1.25-generation Asian American men, those who earned their highest degree at a U.S. institution, but were born and previously educated in a foreign country, had incomes 14 percent lower than those of white men.
- The only group to have achieved “earnings parity” with white men is 1.5-generation Asian American men. Though foreign-born, these men came to the U.S. as children, so therefore speak perfect English and have U.S. educations.
The study was co-authored by Chang Hwan Kim of the University of Kansas and Arthur Sakamoto of The University of Texas at Austin. According to Kim, the 8% pay gap is still large but not as large as it has been for previous generations of Asian Americans.
The findings of this study are, pardon my French, a crock of panda shit. But, hey, at least we’re not as racist as we used to be?
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New Study: Asian Americans & Gen Y ‘More Optimistic About American Dream’ Than Anyone Else
Lee Hyori dressed up as an all-American girl
MetLife recently released a study of the American dream which found that Asian Americans are more optimistic overall about their ability to attain the American dream–and various other “Asian” things. According to the study:
- 47% of Asian Americans believe that their personal situation will improve this year (compared with 35% of Americans overall)
- 34% of AAs believe they have achieved the American dream (like the 34% of Americans overall)
- 89% believe that achieving the American dream is still possible in their lifetime (compared with 70% overall)
- 54% of AAs believe they have an adequate personal safety net, or “cash cushions” (compared to 31% overall)
- 33% of AAs say they’re unable to pay off their monthly credit card bill (compared to 47% overall)
- 28% of AAs report they could not cover expenses for more than one month and 56% said they could not do so for more than three months (compared to 45% and 65% of all Americans, respectively)
- 54% of AAs said “I am confident that I can rely on myself to provide for my family even if I get less from the government” (compared to 40% overall)
- 57% of AAs are confident that they can achieve financial security on their own, despite cutbacks in employer-sponsored health benefits and pension plans (compared to 44% overall)
- 28% of AAs define the American dream first and foremost as “financial security” (compared to 22% overall)
- 27% of AAs equate the American dream with “a successful career” (compared with only 8% overall)
- 38% of AAs say “For me, achieving the American dream is about improving the quality of my life by increasing personal possessions” (compared with 23% overall)
- 61% of AAs say have taken on more responsibility at work and 61% say they are more stressed at work (compared to 56% and 52% of Americans overall)
According to the Review Methodology, Asian American respondents included 199 Chinese Americans, 178 South Asian Indians and 42 Americans from other Asian ethnicities.
It’s all fairly standard. As I was scanning the study, I found myself nodding to each point, as if to check off bullet points on a hypothetical list of Asianness. (That last stat really hits home for me.)
As much as I’d like to say I’m thrilled by these “optimistic” statistics, I can say only that they reaffirm what I’ve always believed were universal Asian American truths, such as
1. Asians are obsessed with money.
2. If you’re not bathing in Benjamins, you haven’t achieved The Dream yet.
3. If you’re not killing yourself at work (and/or school) in order to one day be able to buy designer brands at the mall, then you shouldn’t be too pleased with yourself.
–all that model minority stuff. I honestly feel like one of The Dream factor questions in the survey should have been “Have you made enough money yet to pay back your ridiculously hardass Asian parents for escaping poverty and shitty situations in order to come to the Land of Opportunity where they could birth American children that they seriously hoped would grow up to be President and change the world for the better?”
No check mark.
What really made an impression on me, however, were the results of Generation Y (which is technically my generation, though I do have a lot of Gen X proclivities). Only 26% of us said we’ve achieved the American dream–the lowest percentage of all the surveyed groups–but a whopping 95% of us said that attaining the American dream is possible in our lifetimes. Compare that to only 53% of people Baby Boomers who believed it was possible–my parents’ generation.
Suffering from the worst economy in a long time, kids of this generation believe in themselves and have more confidence than anyone else. I certainly do. And it’s not simply because I’m trying to save face. I would like to think that, despite the lack of confidence they seem to have in themselves to attain their dreams, my parents somehow–whether through guilt or coercion or hardass love–made it possible for me to believe I can easily attain mine.
For that I’m eternally grateful to them. And I hope one day to make them proud.
Besides, most days a little bit of stress in the name of “optimism” doesn’t bother me much.
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