Childhood exposure to coethnics increases naturalization

What is it about?

The integration of immigrants and descendants is an urgent issue in Europe. A key concern among many policymakers is the inclination among immigrants and their children to seek out and being exposed to other coethnics, a tendency often assumed to hamper integration. This study demonstrates that exposure to coethnic peers during childhood increases, rather than decreases, the likelihood of acquiring citizenship down the road.

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Photo by João Rafael on Unsplash

Photo by João Rafael on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study shows that the modest presence of coethnic peers during childhood can be a precondition for, not a barrier to, integration. This finding emphasizes the importance of migrant children’s social environment for their later integration and challenges the political assumption that exposure to same-ethnic peers is necessarily impeding integration.