Spillover Effects of Immigration Policies on Children's Human Capital

Esther Arenas-Arroyo and Bernhard Schmidpeter ()
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Bernhard Schmidpeter: Johannes Kepler Universtiy Linz
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Esther Arenas-Arroyo

No 2022-13, Economics working papers from Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

Abstract: We study the spillover effects of immigration enforcement policies on children’s human capital. Exploiting the temporal and geographic variation in the enactment of immigration enforcement policies, we find that English language skills of US-born children with at least one undocumented parent are negatively affected by the introduction of these policies. Changes in parental investment behavior cause this reduction in children’s English skills. Parents are less likely to enroll their children in formal non-mandatory preschool, substituting formal non-mandatory preschool education with parental time at home. Parents also reduce time spent on leisure and socializing, providing children with fewer opportunities to interact and lean from others. Ultimately, these developments reduce children’s long-term educational success. Exposure to immigration enforcement during early childhood lowers the likelihood of high school completion. We also find negative, though imprecise, effects on college enrollment.

Keywords: Immigration policies; children’s human capital; children’s language skills; parental investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J15 K37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 57 pages
Date: 2022-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int, nep-law and nep-ure
Note: English
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Spillover Effects of Immigration Policies on Children's Human Capital (2022)
Working Paper: Spillover effects of immigration policies on children's human capital (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jku:econwp:2022-13

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