The Decline in Earnings of Childhood Immigrants in the United States

This article provides evidence that, like adult immigrants, male childhood immigrants in the United States, that is, those who arrived before age 18, have experienced a declining trend in their earnings, educational attainment, and English language proficiency over time. Consistent with a strong relationship between the outcomes of parents and children, I find that these declining trends in childhood immigrant outcomes can be explained by controlling for the earnings, and especially educational attainment, of the “potential parents” of these childhood immigrants, that is, adult immigrants from the same birthplace who arrived to the United States during the same time period. Such intergenerational correlations appear to be stronger for childhood immigrants who arrive at a later age. These results highlight the importance of considering immigration from a multi-generational perspective, where the characteristics of immigrants admitted today inform the economic prospects of future generations.