The Intergenerational Impact of Parental Immigration Status: Educational and Health Outcomes Among Children of Undocumented Immigrants

TL;DR

This study shows that children of undocumented immigrants face worse educational and health outcomes due to the stress and institutional barriers their parents experience.

Contribution

The study demonstrates how parental undocumented status independently predicts negative outcomes for children, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors.

Findings

Children of undocumented parents had lower high school graduation rates (63.8%) and college enrollment rates (39.9%).

These children reported higher depression scores and greater chronic illness compared to other groups.

Undocumented parental status independently predicted reduced college enrollment odds (OR = 0.61) and increased odds of poor health (OR = 2.10).

Abstract

This study examines how parental legal status operates as a fundamental social determinant of health and educational equity, focusing on long-term outcomes among U.S.-born and foreign-born children of immigrants. We hypothesized that intergenerational stress and institutional exclusion associated with undocumented status would lead to lower educational attainment and poorer health. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative cohort, participants were classified by inferred parental legal status: native-born, documented immigrant, and undocumented immigrant. Outcomes included high school graduation, college enrollment, depression scores, and chronic health conditions. Children of undocumented parents exhibited the most adverse outcomes—lower graduation (63.8%) and college enrollment rates (39.9%), higher depression, and greater chronic illness. In models controlling for socioeconomic factors, parental undocumented status independently predicted reduced odds of college enrollment (OR = 0.61, p < 0.001) and increased odds of reporting fair/poor health (OR = 2.10, p < 0.001). Findings highlight legal precarity as a potent driver of intergenerational disadvantage and underscore the need for policies addressing the barriers faced by children in undocumented families to promote health and educational equity.