IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v47y2021i4p510-522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Happened to the Immigrant Life Satisfaction Gap?

Author

Listed:
  • Frances Woolley

Abstract

Numerous studies have found that immigrants to Canada are less satisfied with life than comparable Canadian-born individuals. Yet recent data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) suggest that this immigrant satisfaction gap may be disappearing. This article traces the evolution of the immigrant–Canadian born life satisfaction gap from 2009 to 2018 and explores two competing explanations for the declining gap: improved immigrant outcomes and changes to the CCHS design introduced in 2015–2016. The article finds little evidence for the improved outcomes explanation. Indeed, the immigrant satisfaction gap is somewhat illusory—the more substantial gap is between the life satisfaction of White individuals and that of members of certain racialized groups, regardless of immigration status. The 2015–2016 CCHS redesign, however, may be a plausible explanation for the increase in reported life satisfaction. This article provides more evidence that researchers using life satisfaction measures need to be cautious when survey designs change.

Suggested Citation

  • Frances Woolley, 2021. "What Happened to the Immigrant Life Satisfaction Gap?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 47(4), pages 510-522, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:47:y:2021:i:4:p:510-522
    DOI: 10.3138/cpp.2020-122
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2020-122
    Download Restriction: access restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3138/cpp.2020-122?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:47:y:2021:i:4:p:510-522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.