Unemployment Patterns of Local-Born and Migrant Youth in a Postcolonial Society: A Double Cohort Analysis

Abstract

In this study, we use postcolonial and migration literature to discuss the differences in the labor market participation of the local-born and migrant youth populations in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was a British colony until it was returned to China in 1997. Drawing on the 1996, 2006, and 2016 Hong Kong Census data, we use the “double cohort” method to compare how the birth and migration cohorts are related to the patterns of unemployment in Hong Kong. We find that the birth and migration cohorts are independently related to the unemployment rate, that they strongly interact with the likelihood of youth unemployment, and that migrant youths have benefited from the postcolonial environment and have lower rates of unemployment. Specifically, those who are younger and who arrived in Hong Kong after 1997 are less likely to be unemployed than those who are older and resided in Hong Kong before 1997.