Descendants of Immigrants Born in Spain: A Segmented Assimilation?

Abstract

In 2021, approximately 2.65 million people born in Spain had at least one foreign-born parent, representing 6.5 % of the population, although this percentage exceeds 30 % among children under the age of three, suggesting the future importance of these descendants of immigrants. The education levels attained and incorporation into the labour market among the first descendants arriving at young ages will be good indicators of the integration process. Our results show that the children of immigrants have lower levels of education and greater likelihood of being unemployed. These differences with the autochthonous population increase when both parents are of foreign origin, as well as for certain specific origins, which suggest the existence of segmented assimilation.