Children of US Immigration Have Higher Rates of Upward Mobility than those of US-Born Parents, Researchers Say

Children of US immigrants have higher rates of upward mobility than children of US-born parents, research indicates.

In a paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research, researchers say many immigrants on average earn less than US-born workers, but that their children catch up and out-earn children of UB-born parents.

“Children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than the children of the U.S.-born,” say publishers of the paper (Ran Abramitzky of Stanford, Leah Platt Boustan and Elisa Jacome of Princeton University, and Santiago Perez of the University of California at Davis).

The researchers say contrary to the narrative of today’s anti-immigration advocates and politicians, research shows recent immigrants are moving up the economic scale just like those who immigrated to the US a century ago did. “Although some politicians have a short-term perspective on immigrant assimilation, our findings suggest that this view might underestimate the long-run success of immigrants.”

The researchers say their findings are consistent with the idea of the “American Dream,” meaning that even immigrants who arrive in the US with little resources and skills “have a real chance at improving their children’s prospects.”