From Multiracial Subjects to Multicultural Citizens: Social Stratification and Ethnic and Racial Classification among Children of Immigrants in the United Kingdom 1
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online September, 2015
From Multiracial Subjects to Multicultural Citizens: Social Stratification and Ethnic and Racial Classification among Children of Immigrants in the United Kingdom 1
This study examines how immigrant parents’ geographic origins correspond to their
adult children's ethnic and racial self-classification; whether discrepancies
are associated with socioeconomic status; and the implications of these patterns
for assessing socioeconomic inequality. Using linked British census data, we
identify immigrants’ children in 1971 and examine how they ethnically/racially
self-classify in 2001. We find that fluidity in classification varies across
groups, but higher educational attainment is consistently associated with less
white British classification. Therefore, grouping immigrants’ children by
ethnic/racial self-classification underestimates socioeconomic disadvantage for
these groups. However, grouping by parental birthplace overlooks variation in
racialization and disadvantage among children of immigrants from the same
country of origin.
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