Immigrant generations

A first-generation immigrant or first-generation resident may be one of two things: an immigrant born abroad, or the child of an immigrant, born in the target country. There is no broad agreement on which definition to use.[1][2] Second-generation consequently may be either the children or the grandchildren of such an immigrant.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary "first-generation" means

  1. "born in the U.S. -used of an American of immigrant parentage"
  2. "foreign-born -used of a naturalized citizen

According to the U.S Census Bureau, first generation refers to those who are foreign born, second generation refers to those with at least one foreign-born parent, and third-and-higher generation includes those with two U.S. native parents.[3]

First generation

The term first-generation, as it pertains to a person's nationality or residency in a country, has two incompatible meanings:

  • A native-born citizen or resident of a country whose parents are foreign born, or a foreign-born citizen whose parents immigrated when that person was very young.
  • A foreign born citizen or resident who has immigrated to a new country of residence, that is, the first generation to immigrate."

This ambiguity is captured and corroborated in the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "generation":

...designating a member of the first (or second, etc.) generation of a family to do something or live somewhere; spec. designating a naturalized immigrant or a descendant of immigrant parents, esp. in the United States.... (OED definition of "generation," section 6b., the term "first generation" is used to refer to foreign-born residents (excluding those born abroad of American parents).[4]

There is no universal consensus on which of these meanings is always intended.

1.5 generation

The term 1.5 generation or 1.5G refers to individuals who immigrate to a new country before or during their early teens. They earn the label the "1.5 generation" because they bring with them or maintain characteristics from their home country, meanwhile engaging in assimilation and socialization with their new country. Oftentimes, in the case of small children, a battle of linguistic comprehension occurs between their academic language and the language spoken at home.[5] Their identity is, thus, a combination of new and old culture and tradition. Sociologist Ruben Rumbaut was among the first to use the term to examine outcomes among those arriving in the United States before adolescence, but since then the term has expanded to include foreign students, as well as other unique individuals.[6]

Depending on the age of immigration, the community where they settle, extent of education in their native country, and other factors, 1.5 generation individuals identify with their countries of origin to varying degrees. However, their identification is affected by their experiences growing up in the new country. 1.5G individuals are often bilingual and find it easier to assimilate into local culture and society than people who immigrate as adults. Many 1.5 generation individuals also become bi-cultural, combining both cultures - culture from the country of origin with the culture of the new country.

Second generation

The term "second-generation" extends the concept of first-generation by one generation. As such, the term exhibits the same type of ambiguity as "first-generation," as well as additional ones.

Like "first-generation immigrant," the term "second-generation" can refer to a member of either:

  • The second generation of a family to inhabit, but the first natively born in, a country, or
  • The second generation born in a country

In the United States, among demographers and other social scientists, "second generation" refers to the U.S.-born children of foreign-born parents.[4]

The term second-generation immigrant attracts criticism due to it being an oxymoron. Namely, critics say, a "second-generation immigrant" is not an immigrant, since being "second-generation" means that the person is born in the country and the person's parents are the immigrants in question. Generation labeling immigrants is further complicated by the fact that immigrant generations may not correspond to the genealogical generations of a family. For instance, if a family of two parents and their two adult children immigrate to a new country, members in both generations of this family may be considered "first generation" by the former definition, as both parents and children were foreign-born, adult, immigrants. Likewise, if the two parents had a third child later on, this child would be of a different immigrant generation from that of its siblings. For every generation, the factor of mixed-generation marriages further convolutes the issue, as a person may have immigrants at several different levels of his or her ancestry.

These ambiguities notwithstanding, generation labeling is frequently used in parlance, news articles , and reference articles without deliberate clarification of birthplace or naturalization. It may or may not be possible to determine, from context, which meaning is intended.

2.5 generation

When demographers and other social scientists in the United States use the term "second generation," they usually refer to people with one foreign-born parent. Likewise, Statistics Canada defines second generation persons as those individuals who were born in Canada and had at least one parent born outside Canada.[7] Some researchers have begun to question whether those with one native-born parent and those with no native-born parents should be lumped together, with evidence suggesting that there are significant differences in identities and various outcomes between the two groups.[8][9] For instance, patterns of ethnic identification with the majority ethnic group and the heritage ethnic group differ between the 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 generations, such that there is greater polarization between the two identities in the 1.0 generation (i.e., identifying as Canadian implies dis-identifying as a member of the heritage ethnic community and vice versa ), a lack of a relation between the two identities in the 2.0 generation, and a positive association between the two identities for the 2.5 generation (i.e., implying that the two identities are compatible and possibly hybridized) [10]

1.75 and 1.25 generations

Rubén G. Rumbaut has coined the terminology "1.75 generation" and "1.25 generation" immigrants, for children who are closer to birth or full adulthood when they immigrate.[11] Children who arrive in their early childhood (ages 0 to 5) are referred to as 1.75 generation immigrants since their experiences are closer to a true 2nd-generation immigrant who was born in the country they live in: they retain virtually no memory of their country of birth, were too young to go to school to learn to read or write in the parental language or dialect in the home country, typically learn the language or dialect of the country they immigrate to without an accent and are almost entirely socialized there. Children who arrive in their adolescent years (ages 13–17) are referred to as 1.25 generation immigrants because their experiences are closer to the first generation of immigrants adults than to the native born second generation.[11]

Factors leading to immigrant generations' accomplishments

Most immigrant youth tend to have higher academic accomplishment at all levels, at times even having greater levels of post-secondary education than their parents and grandparents.[12] In order to explain this phenomenon, there are several factors that are noticeable:

  1. Immigrant children usually have more in the way of family obligation than children not born of immigrants, so they are more likely feel pressure to study seriously at school and gain the ability to provide for their relatives.[13] This can also be explained by a stronger emphasis of higher education from their immigrant parents who may invest in tutoring and private schooling to increase the human capital of their children.[14]
  2. Optimism—the idea that if they put in the work that they'll achieve social mobility in the host nation—is also an important factor that motivates immigrant generations to work hard and succeed.[15]
  3. Most immigrant generations learn their mother tongue alongside the local national language(s) of their host country. As bilinguals, they have "advantages on all tasks especially involving conflicting attention".[16]

Many of these factors are reinforced and supported by the parents of immigrant youth who may have only immigrated in the first place in order to provide their children with a brighter future.[17]

See also

Notes
  1. B. A., Journalism and English. "Would You Be Considered a First or Second Generation Immigrant?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  2. Duncan, Brian; Trejo, Stephen J. (October 2017). "The Complexity of Immigrant Generations: Implications for Assessing the Socioeconomic Integration of Hispanics and Asians". ILR Review. 70 (5): 1146–1175. doi:10.1177/0019793916679613. ISSN 0019-7939. PMC 5602570. PMID 28935997.
  3. Bureau, US Census. "FAQ". The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. "Nation's Foreign-Born Population Nears 37 Million". Press Release. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  5. Asher, C. (2011). "The progressive past: How history can help us serve generation 1.5". Reference & User Service Quarterly, 51(1). 43–48.
  6. Rojas, Leslie Berenstein (2011-04-07). "Introducing the cultural mashup dictionary: Our first term, 1.5 generation". Article. Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  7. Statistics Canada (2013). "Generation status: Canadian-born children of immigrants". Minister of Industry, Government of Canada. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  8. Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick (2004). "Second‐Generation Immigrants? The "2.5 Generation" in the United States". Social Science Quarterly. 85 (2): 380–399. doi:10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.08502013.x.
  9. Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores; Jocelyn Pan; Hee-Jin Jun; Theresa L. Osypuk; Karen M. Emmons (2005). "The effect of immigrant generation on smoking". Social Science & Medicine. 61 (6): 1223–1242. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.01.027. PMID 15970233.
  10. Noels, Kimberly A.; Richard Clément (2015). "Situational variations in ethnic identity across immigration generations: Implications for acculturative change and cross-cultural adaptation". International Journal of Psychology. 50 (6): 451–462. doi:10.1002/ijop.12205. PMID 26271917.
  11. Rumbaut, Rubén. Ages, Life Stages, and Generational Cohorts: Decomposing the Immigrant First and Second Generations in the United States. p. 1167’’ https://ssrn.com/abstract=1887924 Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  12. Marks, Amy K.; Ejesi, Kida; García Coll, Cynthia (2014-06-01). "Understanding the U.S. Immigrant Paradox in Childhood and Adolescence". Child Development Perspectives. 8 (2): 59–64. doi:10.1111/cdep.12071. ISSN 1750-8606.
  13. Geel, Mitch van; Vedder, Paul (2009-10-27). "The Role of Family Obligations and School Adjustment in Explaining the Immigrant Paradox". Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 40 (2): 187–196. doi:10.1007/s10964-009-9468-y. ISSN 0047-2891. PMC 3018245. PMID 19859793.
  14. Warman, C., Webb, M. D., & Worswick, C. (2019). Immigrant category of admission and the earnings of adults and children: How far does the apple fall? Journal of Population Economics, 32(1), 53-112. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/10.1007/s00148-018-0700-5
  15. Hill, Nancy E.; Torres, Kathryn (2010-03-01). "Negotiating the American Dream: The Paradox of Aspirations and Achievement among Latino Students and Engagement between their Families and Schools". Journal of Social Issues. 66 (1): 95–112. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01635.x. ISSN 1540-4560.
  16. Carlson, Stephanie M.; Meltzoff, Andrew N. (2008-03-01). "Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children". Developmental Science. 11 (2): 282–98. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00675.x. ISSN 1467-7687. PMC 3647884. PMID 18333982.
  17. Tweedie, Gregory; Dressler, Anja; Schmidt, Cora-Leah (2018-11-12). "Supporting Reconnecting Immigrant Families with English Language Learners in Rural Schools: An Exploratory Study of Filipino Arrivals to Alberta". Retrieved 17 November 2018.

References

Further reading
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