Immigrant advantage
The term "immigrant advantage" refers to the observed phenomenon where immigrants, particularly those who migrate voluntarily, often experience better socio-economic outcomes compared to native-born individuals from similar ethnic groups. Despite facing initial challenges, immigrants typically arrive with a strong motivation to succeed, often possessing the resources necessary for relocation. This advantage is further enhanced by the rigorous immigration processes that favor individuals with higher skills and education levels. Research indicates that immigrants, especially those who obtain U.S. citizenship, tend to earn more than native-born Americans, experience lower divorce rates, and have a reduced likelihood of living in poverty.
In addition to economic benefits, studies have shown that immigrants often exhibit better health outcomes compared to native-born individuals, with factors such as diet, lifestyle choices, and lower exposure to environmental toxins contributing to this advantage. These trends are particularly notable among the second-generation children of immigrants, who are more likely to achieve upward economic mobility compared to their native-born counterparts. The immigrant advantage is not limited to one ethnic group and has been documented over a century, reflecting a broader pattern of success in various contexts, including countries like Canada.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Immigrant advantage
DEFINITION: Term used within sociology to describe distinctions among minority groups within a larger society and those peoples who immigrate to these societies voluntarily from other nations
SIGNIFICANCE: Immigrants who are considered members of ethnic groups already residing within the United States often have advantages over native-born members of those groups.
Members of resident minority groups in the United States are often disadvantaged compared to majority groups, facing higher rates of poverty and unemployment, achieving lower levels of education, and lacking political representation. These groups, much like immigrant groups, are frequently made up of ethnic and racial minorities. However, compared with resident minority groups, immigrants have numerous advantages and often become successful, productive members of a society.
One of the primary advantages that many immigrants have is that most people who immigrate to a new country typically do so by choice and therefore arrive already motivated to succeed. Another advantage is that they often have the resources needed to relocate to a new country. National immigration services typically work at keeping out low-skilled and poorly educated immigrants.
A third advantage is that immigrants to the United States tend to believe in the “melting pot” ideal and want to join the mainstream society and learn the new language. To become citizens of the United States, for example, immigrants must speak, read, and write English and pass an examination on US history and government. Therefore, although immigrants may start on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, they often move up more quickly than members of marginalized resident minorities. Studies have shown that immigrants who later acquire US citizenship will, on average, earn more than native-born Americans, divorce at lower rates, and be less likely to fall into poverty. In the United States, this phenomenon is more pronounced in the Midwest and South compared to the coastal United States. Higher levels of social capital among immigrant communities is thought to contribute to the immigrant advantage compared to native-born Americans in certain parts of the country.
A 2022 study in Demography suggested that immigrants enjoyed a natural survival advantage over the native-born in the United States. This attribute was not confined to a single ethnic group, gender, or the era when the person immigrated to the United States. Despite typically immigrating from a lower socio-economic status, foreign-born people were observed to be in better condition in terms of obesity, diet, and smoking habits. Also, they had been subjected to fewer mental health traumas from negative episodes such as discrimination. Immigrants may also have lived in areas with less environmental contamination. Data also suggested that this health advantage was stable and long-lasting.
In the United States, the offspring of migrants were most likely to achieve upward economic mobility compared with native-borns. This was not a recent phenomenon, as data indicated this trend for over a century. Statistics showed second-generation immigrants born into the 25th percentile of the US economic strata ended up 5–8 percentiles higher in income rankings than the children of those born in the United States. Second-generation children whose parents were born in poverty in far-ranging countries such as El Salvador, India, and the Philippines demonstrated these positive economic outcomes in the United States. These positive immigrant outcomes were consistent with similar patterns in countries such as Canada.
Bibliography
Barone, Michael. The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again. Regnery, 2001.
Cook, Terrence E. Separation, Assimilation, or Accommodation:
Contrasting Ethnic Minority Policies. Praeger, 2003.
Giridharadas, Anand. "The Immigrant Advantage." New York Times, 24 May 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/opinion/sunday/the-immigrant-advantage.html. Accessed 18 Oct. 2016.
Jacoby, Tamar, ed. Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What It Means to Be American. Basic Books, 2004.
Kolker, Claudia. The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope. Free Press, 2011.
Ungar, Michael. “Why Do Immigrants Outperform Native-Born Americans?” Psychology Today, 30 Oct. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/nurturing-resilience/201910/why-do-immigrants-outperform-native-born-americans. Accessed 12 Sept. 2024.
Zheng, Hui, and Wei-hsin Yu. “Diminished Advantage of Persistent Protection? A New Approach to Assess Immigrants’ Mortality Advantages Over Time.” Demography, vol. 59, no. 5, 2022, pp. 1655-1681. Duke University Press, doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10175388. Accessed 10 Sept. 2024.