We utilise HILDA data over the period 2001-2005 to evaluate the performance of
second generation Greek-Australians and Italian-Australians in the labour market.
We focus on the effect of overeducation, undereducation, languages-other-than-
English (LOTE), and ethnicity on weekly earnings of full-time workers. The evidence
has a follows: (a) most Greek-Australians are over-represented amongst the
overeducated; (b) overeducation and overskilling can be attributed to a lack of new
skills on the job, parental occupational status, non-English speaking overseas born,
and unobserved characteristics of second generation females; (c) LOTE does not
seem to make a contribution to earning of individual workers, and (d) the use of
LOTE amongst the two second generation groups has declined; second generation
women in part-time employment are an exception.