Age Effects in Education: A Double Disadvantage for Second-Generation Immigrant Children.

A new GLO Discussion Paper shows for Italy that immigrant children face a double disadvantage reducing school performance in Italian and Math substantially.

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Giuseppe Russo

GLO Discussion Paper No. 761, 2021

Age Effects in Education: A Double Disadvantage for Second-Generation Immigrant ChildrenDownload PDF
by
Abatemarco, Antonio & Cavallo, Mariagrazia & Marino, Immacolata & Russo, Giuseppe

GLO Fellow Giuseppe Russo

Author Abstract: A double disadvantage occurs when the interaction of two disadvantages generates an additional disadvantage. We show that second-generation immigrant children in the Italian primary school experience a double disadvantage that, relative to the average native, reduces scores in Italian by 17% and in Math by 20%. The double disadvantage stems from the interaction of the immigration background with age effects (namely, Absolute Age Effect and Relative Age Effect). In a policy perspective, we show that controlling for age effects in class composition criteria pursues integration because it delivers extra benefits to second-generation immigrant children. Besides, we point out the possibility of exploiting the larger impact of the relative age on second-generation children in order to support their performance and reduce the large penalization associated to the immigration background.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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