Second-generation immigrants in the United States
Second-generation immigrants in the United States are individuals born and raised in the United States who have at least one foreign-born parent. Although the term is an oxymoron which is often used ambiguously, this definition is cited by major research centers including the United States Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center.
As the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees citizenship to any individual born in the U.S. who is also subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S., second-generation Americans are currently granted U.S. citizenship by birth. However, political debate over repealing this right has increased in recent years. Advocates of this motion claim that this right attracts unauthorized immigration to the U.S. The repeal of birthright citizenship would have the greatest impact on second-generation Americans who are Mexican Americans, as Mexico is the country of origin for the majority of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
The growing presence of first-generation immigrants in the U.S. has led to a growth in the percentage of the population that can be categorized as second-generation Americans. This is due to immigrants being more likely than native born adults to have children. In 2009, immigrants, both legal and unauthorized, were the parents of 23% of all children in the U.S. The process by which second-generation immigrants undergo assimilation into U.S. society affects their economic successes and educational attainments, with the general trend being an improvement in earnings and education relative to the parental generation. Second-generation Americans have an increasingly important impact on the national labor force and ethnic makeup. People are likely to overestimate the population size of second-generation immigrants due to fear of their growing economic success and hold discriminatory attitudes towards them.
Statistics
In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second-generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. There are significant differences in income and education levels between the second generation immigrant population and the first generation immigrant population in the United States. Second-generation immigrants are doing better overall and are assimilating more successfully into U.S. society.Income
In comparison to first generation immigrants, second-generation immigrants are more likely to achieve higher earnings. In 2008, the median annual earnings for second-generation immigrants were $42,297 while the median annual earnings for first generation immigrants were $32,631. In the same year, the U.S. Census Bureau found that second-generation immigrants had higher earnings overall, with 42% of the second generation immigrant population earning above $50,000 compared to just 31% of the first generation immigrant population. Second-generation immigrants are also less likely to live in poverty relative to their first generation counterparts.Education levels
Second-generation immigrants are more educated compared to first generation immigrants, exceeding parental education in many instances. A greater percentage of second-generation immigrants have obtained a level of education beyond a high school diploma, with 59.2% having at least some college education in 2009. Also in 2009, 33% of the second generation immigrant population had a bachelor's degree. The following graph depicts the data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau on educational attainments for immigrant generations in the year 2009.In earlier studies, migration is shown to be a risk factor in child development. On the contrary, many immigrant adolescents perform equally or even better than national adolescents, specifically in school. Reports have shown that immigrant adolescents earn better grades in school than their national contemporaries, despite their lower socio-economic status. However, as immigrant youth assimilate into United States culture, their developmental and educational outcomes become less optimal. This phenomenon is known as the Immigrant Paradox. There are a couple explanations for this phenomenon, first of all being the free public education system of the United States. For Latino immigrants, free access to education is a major factor in deciding to immigrate to the U.S. and once they arrive, they stress upon their children the importance to succeed academically in order to make their lives better. Another factor increasing the initial educational success of immigrants is the fact that many of them are bilingual. Native bilingualism allows immigrants a distinct advantage in the completion of composite tasks.
Theories on cultural assimilation
The majority of immigrants in the United States are non-white. Immigrants come from diverse backgrounds and have unique cultures taken from their native countries. The children of such immigrants in the U.S., also known as "second-generation immigrants," experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society. The process by which these second-generation immigrants assimilate into society is increasingly being researched, and multiple theories on the cultural assimilation of second-generation immigrants have been proposed.Segmented assimilation
The theory of segmented assimilation for second-generation immigrants is highly researched in the sociological arena. Segmented assimilation focuses on the notion that people take different paths in how they adapt to life in the United States. This theory states that there are three main paths of assimilation for second-generation immigrants. Some immigrants assimilate smoothly into the white middle class of America, others experience downward assimilation, and others experience rapid economic success while preserving the values of their immigrant community.This theory also includes the concept of modes of incorporation, which are the external factors within the host community that affect assimilation. These factors are created by the underlying policies of the government, the strength of prejudice in the society, and the makeup of coethnic communities within the society. These modes of incorporation affect how a child will assimilate into U.S. society, and determine how vulnerable the child will be towards downward assimilation. Factors that enhance such vulnerability include racial discrimination, location, and changes in the economy that have made it harder for intergenerational mobility.
In addition, differing modes of incorporation make available certain resources that second-generation immigrants can use to overcome challenges to the process of assimilation. If the child belongs to a group that has been exempt from the prejudice experienced by most immigrants, such as European immigrants, they will experience a smoother process of assimilation. A second generation immigrant can also make use of established networks in the coethnic community. These networks provide these children with additional resources beyond those offered by the government, such as gateways into well paying jobs in businesses established by the ethnic community.
Children of middle class immigrants have a greater likelihood of moving up the social ladder and joining American mainstream society than children of lower class immigrants, as they have access to both the resources provided by their parents and to the educational opportunities afforded to the middle class in the U.S.
Downward assimilation
Multiple factors affect the likelihood of downward assimilation, including race, location, and absence of mobility ladders. Generally, immigrants enter the sectors of the labor force that experience low pay, commonly through jobs in the service sector and manufacturing. Such jobs seldom offer chances for upward mobility. The lack of good pay and resources available to immigrant parents affects the likelihood of their U.S.-born children being able to rise out of poverty. Children born to low skilled immigrants may experience assimilation into the impoverished groups of the United States. Instead of adapting to the mainstream values and expectations of U.S. society, they take on the adversarial stance of the poor, entering the vicious cycle of poverty. According to the theory of segmented assimilation, second-generation immigrants are less likely to experience downward assimilation when their race does not align with groups that experience prejudice and discrimination, such as African Americans. Also, immigrant families can enter well established ethnic groups in the United States to increase their pool of resources, lowering the possibility of downward assimilation for their children.Criticism
Not all studies coincide with the theory of segmented assimilation. Other studies have found that second generation immigrant groups' earnings are in line with native born groups. Arrest rates indicate similarities in the engagement of deviant behavior between second-generation immigrants and the white population in the U.S., contradicting the theory of segmented assimilation since these similarities support the idea of assimilation towards the dominant norm of mainstream U.S. society.Despite the barriers that come from being born to immigrants who are generally low skilled, have little education, and have less knowledge of the English language compared to U.S. natives, second-generation immigrants are doing better than U.S. native groups of comparable racial backgrounds, contradicting the concept of downward assimilation. A major factor that contributes to second-generation immigrants doing so well is the drive to succeed and do better than their predecessors that is commonly instilled in these immigrants from childhood by their families. The theory of segment assimilation undermines such early socialization.
Second-generation immigrants of minority status in terms of ethnicity can also move up the social economic ladder via minority rights and resources available through programs directed at the betterment of minority groups in the U.S. Second-generation immigrants are also entering the labor force with higher levels of education compared to their parents, which helps balance the negative effects associated with having low skilled immigrant parents.
Another major criticism of segmented assimilation is that it predicts downward mobility for children of low skilled immigrants when studies have shown that upward mobility is more likely due to the children already starting off at the bottom.