Abstract
We use administrative Swedish data to show that, conditional on parent income, immigrant children have similar incomes and higher educational attainment in adulthood than native-born Swedes. This result, however, masks the fact that immigrant children born into poor families are more likely than similar natives to both reach the top of the income distribution and to stay at the bottom. Immigrant children from high-income families are also more likely than natives to regress to the economic bottom. Notably, however, children from predominantly-refugee sending countries like Bosnia, Syria, and Iran have higher intergenerational mobility than the average immigrant child in Sweden.
Conclusion
We use administrative Swedish data to document that, conditional on parent income, immigrant children have similar incomes to their native-born counterparts. Digging deeper into the conditional expectation, we reveal that immigrant children born into poor families are slightly more likely than native children born into poor families to reach the very top of the income distribution. They are also considerably more likely to obtain a college degree. At the same time, immigrant children are also more likely than native children to stay at the very bottom of the income distribution or to regress from middle and high family incomes to the very bottom.
We show, additionally, that substantial heterogeneities in later-life child outcomes exist depending on the country of origin. Children from predominantly-refugee sending countries like Bosnia, Syria, and Iran have higher incomes and higher intergenerational mobility than the average child immigrant to Sweden. Further research is needed to understand what helps the average immigrant child born into the bottom of the income distribution do as well as native children, why immigrant children who arrive at middle and high family incomes are more likely than native children to fall back to the economic bottom, and why some refugee children integrate better into Swedish society than other immigrant children.
We use administrative Swedish data to show that, conditional on parent income, immigrant children have similar incomes and higher educational attainment in adulthood than native-born Swedes. This result, however, masks the fact that immigrant children born into poor families are more likely than similar natives to both reach the top of the income distribution and to stay at the bottom. Immigrant children from high-income families are also more likely than natives to regress to the economic bottom. Notably, however, children from predominantly-refugee sending countries like Bosnia, Syria, and Iran have higher intergenerational mobility than the average immigrant child in Sweden.
Conclusion
We use administrative Swedish data to document that, conditional on parent income, immigrant children have similar incomes to their native-born counterparts. Digging deeper into the conditional expectation, we reveal that immigrant children born into poor families are slightly more likely than native children born into poor families to reach the very top of the income distribution. They are also considerably more likely to obtain a college degree. At the same time, immigrant children are also more likely than native children to stay at the very bottom of the income distribution or to regress from middle and high family incomes to the very bottom.
We show, additionally, that substantial heterogeneities in later-life child outcomes exist depending on the country of origin. Children from predominantly-refugee sending countries like Bosnia, Syria, and Iran have higher incomes and higher intergenerational mobility than the average child immigrant to Sweden. Further research is needed to understand what helps the average immigrant child born into the bottom of the income distribution do as well as native children, why immigrant children who arrive at middle and high family incomes are more likely than native children to fall back to the economic bottom, and why some refugee children integrate better into Swedish society than other immigrant children.
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