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(Dis)advantage Across Countries and Generations: Intergenerational Social Mobility in Immigrant Families

Objective

The population share of immigrants and their descendants is at a historic high in Western societies, which raises a crucial question: are inequalities affecting immigrants and their children temporary or durable? Prior research on the intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage in immigrant families has relied solely on information from the destination country. However, immigrants often face occupational downgrading and skill devaluation, which implies that information on the destination country only provides partial insight into their social mobility. Immigrants’ parents in the origin country are therefore critical for establishing a valid starting point in the analysis of intergenerational social mobility in immigrant families. Yet, prior research has almost entirely overlooked immigrants’ parents in the origin, in part due to a lack of data.

The immiGEN project takes an internationally comparative perspective, drawing on four contexts that provide a unique opportunity to link immigrants to their parents in origin countries and to critically evaluate central tenets of assimilation theories. I will link Finnish and Swedish register data and use causal inference research designs to assess how migration shapes intergenerational social mobility. In three other contexts, I harness survey data that enable origin-destination comparisons across multiple migration corridors: Turkey-Europe, Senegal-Europe, and Mexico-US and Canada.

immiGEN will:

(1) Examine how migration shapes intergenerational social mobility

(2) Uncover how social mobility is differentially influenced by an immigrant’s religion, visible minority status, or whether they are undocumented

(3) Identify mechanisms which determine social mobility in immigrant families, in particular the role of return migration

This knowledge is key for understanding the intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage and has the potential to shift our understanding of social mobility in immigrant families.

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Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) ERC-2026-STG

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Host institution

STOCKHOLMS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 1 499 425,00
Address
UNIVERSITETSVAGEN 10
10691 Stockholm
Sweden
Region
Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 1 499 425,00

Beneficiaries (1)