Second-generation Americans better off than their parents

The 20 million second-generation Americans are substantially better off than their parents on several key measures of socioeconomic attainment including income, educational achievement and home ownership, according to a new Pew study.

They are also more likely to marry outside of their race or ethnicity and consider themselves a "typical American."

More from Bloomberg on the Pew study, released Feb. 7:

The report comes as the White House prepares an immigration-policy package opposed by many Republicans who view the new arrivals as a costly population dependent on entitlements and likely to support Democrats. Immigrants and their children are expected to make up as much as 93 percent of the U.S. working-age population growth between now and 2050, according to a 2008 report by Pew cited in the latest study.

"The great American immigration experiment appears to be working in the 21st century as it has in the past," said Paul Taylor, executive director of the Pew project. "It's early yet. But so far, so good."

Ruben Rumbaut, professor of sociology at the University of California-Irvine, and co-author of "Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation," joins The Daily Circuit to talk about the study. John Mollenkopf, distinguished professor of political science and sociology and director of the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, also joined the discussion.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SECOND-GENERATION AMERICANS:

Read the Pew study

Second-generation immigrants overtaking U.S. population success (Bloomberg)

The second generation and the children of immigrants (Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol. 28 No. 6)

Immigration study: 'Second Generation' has edge (NPR)

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