Educational Attainment and Labor Force Participation of U.S. Immigrant Offspring from Southeast Asia.

This study uses the most recent data from the Current Population Survey to examine socioeconomic standing (mainly educational attainment and labor force participation) of Southeast Asian (SEA) immigrants. The study focuses on what progress SEA immigrants and refugees have made after 2 decades of resettlement, whether second generation children fare worse than their immigrant parents, what factors are attributed to these groups' respective socioeconomic standings, and how parents' educational levels and employment status affect their offsprings' educational attainment and employment status. Results indicate that immigrant generation does affect educational attainment. The second generation of SEA immigrants is doing not only as well as the 1.5 generation, but also better than the immigrant generation. The effect of immigrant generation on the likelihood of being employed is not statistically significant. However, the duration of U.S. residence and the individual and family characteristics have strong effects on immigrants' employment status. Social capital in the family remains an important factor in predicting academic outcomes among SEA immigrants. School enrollment and years of schooling are strong predictors of labor force participation for immigrant offspring. (Contains 81 references.) (SM)