Austria: Intergenerational mobility among children of immigrants

Abstract

This chapter examines the intergenerational socio-economic mobility of immigrants’ offspring in Austria, and shows how the transmission from parents to their children differs between native parents and immigrant parents. The analysis focuses on children of Yugoslav and Turkish descent, since these two groups comprise the largest set of immigrants’ children in Austria. Besides offering information on the main characteristics of the Austrian immigration system and some historical and institutional information, it presents empirical findings on the educational attainment of immigrants’ offspring using EU-SILC data. The Austrian preschool system is identified in view of its strong relevance in determining one’s educational path, and results are presented on the role parents’ education plays in deciding which education route the children are likely to take. A concluding section summarises the three strongly interlinked “dividing lines” that greatly hinder the upward mobility of the native children of immigrants, and notes a striking contrast between those of Yugoslav and Turkish descent.