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Immigrant intergenerational mobility: A focus on childhood environment

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  • Bratu, Cristina
  • Bolotnyy, Valentin

Abstract

Over 60% of immigrant parents in Sweden start off in the bottom quintile of the income distribution, yet only about 30% of their children are still in the bottom income quintile in adulthood. This progress notwithstanding, we show using administrative data that immigrant children who grow up in the 20th income percentile place three income ranks lower than native children of similarly low-income parents. This income gap cannot be explained by differences in parent education levels, family structure, or municipality of residence. The gap can, however, be explained by differences in immediate, 100 × 100 - m neighborhoods. Immigrant children grow up in relatively denser neighborhoods with fewer native-born and high-earning neighbors. Data from Stockholm suggest that immigrant families sort into different neighborhoods than natives due to Sweden’s rental housing allocation mechanism that is based on waiting time rather than market rents.

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  • Bratu, Cristina & Bolotnyy, Valentin, 2023. "Immigrant intergenerational mobility: A focus on childhood environment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:151:y:2023:i:c:s0014292122002331
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104353
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    2. Rosa Weber & Louisa Vogiazides, 2023. "Heterogeneity or consistency across life domains? An analysis of disparities between second-generation migrants and the Swedish majority population," Post-Print hal-03899393, HAL.
    3. De Giorgi, Giacomo & Prado, Maurício & Severgnini, Battista, 2025. "The life-cycle and opportunities of migrants and natives in the Danish experience," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    4. Junwu, Xu & Zhaoxiong, Chen & Junjie, Wu, 2022. "Return of migrant workers, educational investment in children and intergenerational mobility in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 997-1009.

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