Social mobility has been a growing concern in recent years, as the rate of upward mobility seems to be wavering, with today’s generation by no means guaranteed to have a better life than their parents.  It’s a concern that new research from Stanford University suggests doesn’t affect all members of society.

The research shows that children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than children of US-born people, with this trend enduring over the last 100 years.

“Immigrants’ advantage is similar historically and today
despite dramatic shifts in sending countries and US immigration policy,” the researchers explain. “Immigrants achieve this advantage in part by choosing to settle in locations that offer better prospects for their children.”

Upward mobility

The authors highlight that all immigrants move country in order to get a better life for them and for their children. Despite this aspiration, many begin life earning less than US-born workers as they lack the connections, the understanding of the labor market, and often requisite certifications or language skills to thrive from the outset.

These challenges often mean that they are unable to catch up entirely, even within a single generation. Where things change, however, is in subsequent generations, with intergenerational mobility of the children of immigrants not only achieve earnings parity with US-born people, but often surpass them.

“We find that, both historically and today, children of immigrants at the bottom of the income distribution have higher rates of upward mobility than children of similarly ranked US-born fathers, and to a strikingly similar degree in each time period,” the researchers explain. “Second-generation immigrants growing up at the 25th percentile of the income distribution end up 5–6 percentile rank points higher than the children of the US-born who were also raised at the same income rank.”

Footloose

This trend is also continuing despite modern US immigrants tending to be from Asia and Latin America rather than Europe. It’s also a period that has seen a shift away from almost open borders during the age of European migration to far stricter controls now.

The analysis reveals that geography matters considerably, as immigrants were far more likely to move to areas offering better prospects than natives. Indeed, when mobility was removed as a factor, the intergenerational mobility gap between children of immigrants and children of US-born parents fell by 50%.

“We find that an important explanation for why the children of immigrants are more upwardly mobile is that immigrant families are more likely than the US-born to move to areas that offer better prospects for their children,” the researchers conclude. “This finding is especially relevant in light of the decline in both geographical and economic mobility that has taken place in recent decades in the US.”