May 2001

IZA DP No. 297: The Educational Attainment of Second Generation Immigrants in The Netherlands

published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2003, 16 (4), 739-753

Since the mid-1960’s the Netherlands has had an immigration surplus, mainly because of manpower recruitment from Turkey and Morocco and immigration from the former Dutch colony of Surinam. Immigrants have a weak labor market position, which is related to their educational level and language skills. Children and grandchildren of immigrants are expected to have a better chance of integration into Dutch society. In this paper we investigate whether this is true with respect to the educational attainment of second generation immigrants from Turkey, Morocco, Surinam and the Dutch Antilles.