Shifting identities: determinants and outcomes of ethnic identification in the second-generation

What terms do children of immigrants use to describe themselves and what do those labels predict about their futures? Using panel data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, I examine determinants of 1.5 and second generation youths’ responses to an open-ended ethnic identification question. I find widespread change in self-identification during adolescence and young adulthood, with less stable ethnic identification among males and youth of lower socioeconomic status. Furthermore, both the labels endorsed and the stability of identification are predictive of later life outcomes in education, occupation and criminal justice contact. Those who use a racial/panethnic label fare worst: they obtain fewer years of education, lower monthly earnings, and higher risk of arrest on average. Contrary to popular belief, adopting a U.S.-origin label is associated with later social disadvantage, while greater attachment to parental origins predicts better performance on traditional measures of structural assimilation.