and it contributed to a much more ethnically diverse
population. Immigration, especially undocumented
immigration from Mexico, became a major political
issue during this decade, which was simultaneously
characterized by increasing wealth and decreasing real
wages. The notion of immigrants “stealing” Ameri-
can jobs gained traction, as working-class Americans
found themselves struggling in a growing economy,
and middle-class Americans found that they needed
to work more hours than in previous decades. At the
same time, American businesses began to benefit in a
systematic way from employing immigrant laborers
who were willing to work for less money than were
native-born citizens.
Further Reading
Brimelow, Peter.Alien Nation: Common Sense About
America’s Immigration Disaster. New York: Random
House, 1995. Controversial book that criticizes
America’s post-1965 immigration policy for chang-
ing the ethnic makeup of the United States.
Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben B. Rumbaut.Immigrant
America: A Portrait. Rev. 2d ed. Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1997. Describes America’s im-
migration and immigrants during the last third of
the twentieth century.
Waters, Mary, and Reed Ueda, eds.The
New Americans: A Guide to Immigration
Since 1965.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2007. Comprehensive
work, covering major issues in immigra-
tion and immigrant groups.
Zhou, Min, and Carl L. Bankston III.
Growing Up American: How Vietnamese
Children Adapt to Life in the United States.
New York: Russell Sage Foundation,
- Examines the lives of young peo-
ple in the largest of the Southeast Asian
refugee groups. Contains a brief history
of Southeast Asian resettlement in the
United States from 1975 to the middle
of the 1990’s.
Carl L. Bankston III
See also Asian Americans; Demograph-
ics of the United States; Immigration Re-
form and Control Act of 1986; Immigra-
tion to Canada; Latinos; Mariel boatlift;
Mexico and the United States; Soviet
Japan and North America
Income and wages in Canada
Definition Earning and payment of money,
deriving from capital or labor, in Canada
In developed economies like that of Canada, the overwhelm-
ing majority of the population supports itself from money
wages and income.
By 1987, Canada’s labor force comprised slightly
more than 13 million people, of whom a bit more
than 1 million were unemployed. The labor force
was equal to about one-half of the total population.
During the 1980’s, Canada enjoyed one of the high-
est rates of job creation in the developed world, but
many of the new workers were married women who
often held part-time or temporary jobs. In an effort
to counteract the effects of recession of the early
1980’s, the Canadian government had encouraged
job sharing, which eased the burden on Canada’s
unemployment insurance system but left many work-
ing only part-time.
Despite the creation of some 1.3 million new jobs,
Canada’s unemployment rate remained stubbornly
high. Those who were laid off during this period
remained unemployed, on average, for 17.3 weeks,508 Income and wages in Canada The Eighties in America
Average Income of Families and Unattached
Individuals in Canada*YearAverage Family Income
(in constant 1995 dollars)Average Income of
Unattached Individuals
(in constant 1995 dollars)
1980 55,061 23,018
1981 54,214 24,246
1982 52,869 24,056
1983 52,304 22,972
1984 52,135 23,077
1985 53,472 23,647
1986 54,462 22,673
1987 55,156 24,120
1988 56,366 24,425
1989 58,024 25,192*Figures exclude self-employment farm income.
Source:Centre for International Statistics, using Statistics Canada,
Income Distributions by Size in Canada, 1995.