Income inequality between local-born Chinese and mainland migrant adults in Hong Kong: a comparison of baby boom and millennial generations

Abstract

We explored how the three major trends evident in the labor market since the 1970s (narrowing gender inequality, increased enrollment in higher education, occupational inequality) are related to income differences between the baby boom and millennial generations in Hong Kong, a major city in East Asia. We have incorporated analysis that examines the differences between local-born individuals and migrants in order to highlight a significant feature of Hong Kong society. Using the Hong Kong census for 1991 and 2016, we showed that from 1991 to 2016, the income gap between local-born Chinese and migrants widened substantially between millennials and baby boomers. RIF regression analysis and the decomposition based on the RIF regression results show that the three major social trends are related to the incomes of young adult baby boomers and millennials in Hong Kong in different ways. These patterns also vary by high and lower-income groups.