Migration Observatory Seminar – Leah Platt Boustan (Princeton University), 3rd December 2024 at 12.00 – 13.15 (CET)

Leah Platt Boustan (Princeton University) on “Intergenerational mobility of immigrants in 15 destination countries”, jointly organised by Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano, Bocconi and Fondazione Collegio Carlo Alberto.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, 3rd December 2024 from 12.00 to 13.15 (CET) at Fondazione Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin.

Abstract:

We estimate the intergenerational mobility of children of immigrants in eleven European and four non-European countries. In all but two destinations, immigrant parents earn less than the local born, but the children of immigrants experience substantial convergence. The remaining gap between children of immigrants and locals is largest in countries like Denmark and France where children of immigrants are raised near the bottom of the income distribution. After controlling for parental income, daughters of immigrants outearn daughters of the local born in most destinations, and the earnings gap diminishes (but remains negative) for sons. Sons of immigrants lag particularly behind in otherwise high-mobility countries like Austria and the Netherlands. All children of immigrants have higher mobility in countries with easier access to citizenship for the second generation, and with positive attitudes toward immigrants.