Parental Nativity and Children’s Academic Outcomes

Background and Purpose: Approximately one in four children in the United States lives with at least one immigrant parent. Parental nativity is closely tied to structural factors that shape children’s educational experiences, including socioeconomic context, language, and access to institutional resources. This study examines the association between parental nativity and academic outcomes among children and assesses whether patterns are consistent with the immigrant paradox.

Methods: Data were used from the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (N = 38,099), a nationally representative sample of U.S. children. Academic outcomes included school performance/engagement, school-related problems, grade retention, and chronic absenteeism based on parent report. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between parental nativity and academic outcomes, controlling for key sociodemographic covariates.

Results: Children with immigrant parents demonstrated consistently more favorable academic outcomes compared to children with U.S.-born parents. They had lower odds of school-related problems (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.79), grade retention (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.88), and chronic absenteeism (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.88), as well as greater likelihood of strong school engagement/performance (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.79) indicating reduced odds of low school functioning). These findings are consistent with the immigrant paradox, whereby children of immigrant families demonstrate positive outcomes despite structural disadvantage.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that children of immigrant parents experience favorable academic outcomes relative to their peers, highlighting the importance of examining immigrant adaptation through a strengths-based and structural lens. These results underscore the need to move beyond deficit-based frameworks and recognize protective factors within immigrant families while addressing systemic barriers that shape educational opportunity. Social workers play a key role in advancing policies and school-based interventions that support immigrant families and promote equitable access to educational resources.