Migration Observatory Webinar – Leah Boustan (Princeton University), 18th November 2020 at 4:30 p.m. (CET)

Migration Observatory – Webinar 

Leah Boustan (Princeton University):”Streets of Gold: Immigration and the American Dream Over Two Centuries“, jointly organised by Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano, Università Bocconi and Collegio Carlo Alberto, 18th November 2020 at 4:30 p.m. (CET) on Zoom. You can connect to the webinar through the following link (Meeting ID:  852 0150 5979 Passcode: 512009).

Abstract

This talk is based on an upcoming book entitled Streets of Gold: Immigration and the American Dream Over Two Centuries. The public has a nostalgic view about immigration to the US a century ago during the Age of Mass Migration from Europe. We argue that the vision of the “American Dream,” in which immigrants arrive penniless but quickly join the middle class, is overstated both in the past and today. Instead, immigrants themselves, in both eras, climb a few rungs on the economic ladder and engage in some cultural assimilation. The children of immigrants experience a striking catch up to the children of the US-born both in the past and present, and from nearly every sending country.