Migration and Schooling among U.S.-Born Children of Mexican Parents

Michael Rendall, RAND

Second-generation migrants are invariably analyzed under the assumption that, having being born in the U.S., they grew up living in the U.S. The main aim of the present study is to explore the cases among U.S.-born Mexican children for which this assumption is not true. It describes their US-Mexico migration patterns during childhood, whether these moves involve parent-child separations or reunions, and differences in their school enrollment status by age when living in the U.S. or Mexico. It is the first study to provide direct evidence on these topics using national-level data. This is achieved by combining microdata from the U.S. and Mexico censuses of 1990 and 2000, including the "place of residence 5 years ago" question in both countries' censuses. Substantial proportions migrate to Mexico at pre-school ages and these children experience both higher parent-child separation and higher enrollment through the school-age years than do their peers.