International Migration of Mexicans and the Reproduction of Education from One Generation to the Next

Kate H. Choi, University of California, Los Angeles
Robert D. Mare, University of California, Los Angeles

Our goal is to assess how Mexican migration to the U.S. affects the distribution of schooling in the next generation by influencing mechanisms of population growth and intergenerational transmission of education. To do so, we first identify how women's education and migration influences components of population growth and intergenerational transmission of education. Based on these findings, we then construct a demographic model demonstrating how Mexican migration influences the distribution of schooling in the next generation by changing family formation and within-family characteristics that determine children's well-being. Lastly, we use this model to simulate the partial and combined effects of hypothetical changes to women's education, marriage, migration, fertility and intergenerational transmission of education on the distribution of schooling in the next generation. Not only will this model provide more accurate estimates on the aggregate effects of migration, but it will also isolate the specific demographic mechanisms that facilitate or impede the intergenerational educational mobility for Mexican Americans.