Children of Mixed Nativity: Accounting for the '2.5 Generation'

S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, Princeton University
Thomas J. Espenshade, Princeton University

This study takes issue with the way that second-generation immigrants have been traditionally defined. In most studies, respondents are considered to be “second-generation” if they are born in the United States and if at least one of their parents were born outside the United States. This formulation conflates the experiences and outcomes of those who have no U.S.-born parents (what we term the “2.0 generation”) versus those who have one U.S.-born parent and one foreign-born parent (what we term the “2.5 generation”). We show that 2.5-generation respondents are distinct from those in the 2.0 generation in terms of important demographic characteristics such as age structure and racial composition. The two populations also differ in socioeconomic outcomes such as educational attainment and earnings. Thus, scholars of immigrant adaptation should avoid lumping together respondents from the 2.5 generation with those who have no native-born parents.