No Margin for Error: Educational and Occupational Achievement among Disadvantaged Children of Immigrants

Immigration since the 1960s has transformed the nation. Today, close to one-fourth of the American population is of immigrant stock – immigrants themselves or children of immigrants. The same rough proportion holds among young Americans, aged 18 or younger. Children of immigrants and immigrant children exceed 30 million today and are, by far, the fastest growing component of this population. Hence, their destiny as they reach adulthood and seek to integrate socially and economically into the mainstream is more than of academic interest.