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Age at Arrival and Life Chances Among Childhood Immigrants

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  • Are Skeie Hermansen

    (University of Oslo)

Abstract

This study examines the causal relationship between childhood immigrants’ age at arrival and their life chances as adults. I analyze panel data on siblings from Norwegian administrative registries, which enables me to disentangle the effect of age at arrival on adult socioeconomic outcomes from all fixed family-level conditions and endowments shared by siblings. Results from sibling fixed-effects models reveal a progressively stronger adverse influence of immigration at later stages of childhood on completed education, employment, adult earnings, occupational attainment, and social welfare assistance. The persistence of these relationships within families indicates that experiences related to the timing of childhood immigration have causal effects on later-life outcomes. These age-at-arrival effects are considerably stronger among children who arrive from geographically distant and economically less-developed origin regions than among children originating from developed countries. The age-at-arrival effects vary less by parental education and child gender. On the whole, the findings indicate that childhood immigration after an early-life formative period tends to constrain later human capital formation and economic opportunities over the life course.

Suggested Citation

  • Are Skeie Hermansen, 2017. "Age at Arrival and Life Chances Among Childhood Immigrants," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 201-229, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:54:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s13524-016-0535-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-016-0535-1
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    3. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben & Chen, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Childhood left-behind experience and labour market outcomes in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-207.
    4. Fenoll, Ainhoa Aparicio, 2018. "English proficiency and mathematics test scores of immigrant children in the US," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-113.
    5. L. Pieroni & G. d’Agostino & D. Lanari & M. Scarlato, 2024. "Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes: New Insights from a Lack of Language Proficiency in Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(1), pages 293-327, March.
    6. Cristina Bratu & Matz Dahlberg & Madhinee Valeyatheepillay, 2021. "Age at Arrival and Residential Integration," CESifo Working Paper Series 9181, CESifo.
    7. Pieroni, Luca & d'Agostino, Giorgio & Lanari, Donatella, 2019. "The effects of language skills on immigrant employment and wages in Italy," MPRA Paper 91725, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Sander Gerritsen & Mark Kattenberg & Sonny Kuijpers, 2019. "The impact of age at arrival on education and mental health," CPB Discussion Paper 389, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Sander Gerritsen & Mark Kattenberg & Sonny Kuijpers, 2019. "The impact of age at arrival on education and mental health," CPB Discussion Paper 389.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    10. Honkaniemi, Helena & Juárez, Sol Pía & Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal & Rostila, Mikael, 2020. "Psychological distress by age at migration and duration of residence in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    11. Chiara Zisler & Damiano Pregaldini & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2023. "Opening doors for immigrants: The importance of occupational and workplace-based cultural skills for successful labor market entry," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0204, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    12. Stacey Wilson-Forsberg & Oliver Masakure & Edward Shizha & Ginette Lafrenière & Magnus Mfoafo-M’Carthy, 2020. "Great Expectations: Perspectives of Young West African Immigrant Men Transitioning to the Canadian Labour Market Without Postsecondary Education," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1309-1328, December.
    13. Galloway, Taryn Ann & Gjefsen, Hege Marie, 2020. "Assimilation of immigrants: Does earlier school exposure matter?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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