Cognitive achievement of children of immigrants: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study

Abstract

Although numerous studies have described the educational attainment of ethnic minorities in the UK, few have focused specifically on children born in the UK to two immigrant parents. First, using ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation, this article examines the cognitive assessment scores of children of immigrants in the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). It then exploits the richer data of the MCS to construct multilevel models for children of immigrants in this more recent cohort. In the BCS70, children of immigrants show significant gaps at ages 5 and 10 in both reading and maths scores. Even when controls are included in the OLS model for the BCS70, children of Caribbean immigrants are expected to perform worse in both assessments. In the raw MCS data, on the other hand, nearly no gap remains in age-11 and -14 assessments. Although Bangladeshi children of immigrants in the MCS have negative coefficients in the OLS analysis, in the final multilevel model for the MCS, all children of immigrants follow positive trajectories wherein no group attains distinguishably lower scores than their peers in later assessments, and Indian children of immigrants even outperform their peers in the MCS model's predictions.

Strangers in the Homeland? The Academic Performance of Children of Return Migrants in Mexico

“…Lastly, we do not know if achievement varies by age. Previous work has shown that disparities for children of immigrants may be greatest at younger ages (Hoffmann 2018), and educational parity at older ages may not translate to equality in the labor market (Lee 2021:192-93). Future work should investigate achievement at younger ages as well as the school-to-work transition for the 0.5 generation.…”

The Importance of Context: Children of Immigrants in the United Kingdom

“…Despite evidence that racial discrimination is linked to lower achievement (Archer, 2003), groups with higher likelihood of discrimination in fact do better in verbal scores over time, according to this model. This may have something to do with the generally high levels of academic achievement of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom at older ages (Hoffmann, 2018). Shah et al (2010) suggest that ethnic minority families see education as a more sure path of social mobility in a society that places them at structural risk of discrimination; this positive slope value may represent such agentic resistance to discriminatory barriers.…”

“…In education, some studies have shown achievement gaps for pupils identifying as Black Caribbean (Coard, 1971;Gillborn, 2008;Strand, 2012), Pakistani, and Bangladeshi (DfES, 2006;Gillborn & Mirza, 2000). Other studies show that these gaps narrow or become insignificant by adolescence, at least in models with statistical controls (Hoffmann, 2018;Strand et al, 2015). In addition, Indian and Chinese children of immigrants might even exceed the educational outcomes of other children (Archer & Francis, 2007;DfES, 2006;Hoffmann, 2018).…”

“…Other studies show that these gaps narrow or become insignificant by adolescence, at least in models with statistical controls (Hoffmann, 2018;Strand et al, 2015). In addition, Indian and Chinese children of immigrants might even exceed the educational outcomes of other children (Archer & Francis, 2007;DfES, 2006;Hoffmann, 2018). Health and development disparities may be more entrenched, however; although the "healthy immigrant effect" holds true for some groups (Kennedy et al, 2015), children of ethnic minority immigrants in the UK experience higher risks of obesity (Martinson et al, 2012) and poorer mental health (Jackson et al, 2012), even through adolescence, although these effects may be more pronounced for lower-SES, less integrated families (Giunti & Oncini, 2019).…”

“…Studies of immigrant groups in the United Kingdom have established that children of immigrants experience ethnically disparate trajectories in a variety of outcomes, including education (DfES, 2006;Hoffmann, 2018;Meunier et al, 2013;Strand, 2014), socioemotional development (Jackson et al, 2012), and health (Giunti & Oncini, 2019;Martinson et al, 2012). Although these disparities are well documented, few studies have analyzed the group-level characteristics that empower certain groups to do better while others fall behind.…”