The Socioeconomic Well-Being of California’s Immigrant Youth

California’s immigrant youth often make transitions to adulthood in different orders, at different paces, and with different levels of success than their native-born counterparts. Given the large size of this population, these differences have far-reaching consequences for households, communities, and public policy. In The Socioeconomic Well-Being of California’s Immigrant Youth, Laura Hill profiles the educational attainment, workforce participation, household arrangements, and parenting rates of this population. Finding that immigrants who arrive before age ten have outcomes very similar to those of their native-born counterparts, she concludes that many policies addressing the needs of second- and third-generation youth are also likely to help immigrant youth who attend school. However, immigrant youth who are not in school must be reached through their employers or their children’s schools.