Children & Family Policy

Children of immigrants are the fastest growing component of the U.S. child population, representing 24 percent of all U.S. children. Immigrant families in the United States are concentrated at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Thus, policies that advantage or disadvantage families in general and low-income families with children in particular, such as early schooling, family literacy, and day care will have far-reaching impacts. At the same time, policies affecting families will increasingly be judged by their effects on the health, well-being, and school readiness and success of immigrant children.

Recent Activity

Multimedia November 5, 2021 Immigrant Integration: Essential to the Success of Immigration Policy	Reports September 2021 "Diversifying" Social Investment: European Welfare States and Immigrant Integration in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis By Anton Hemerijck and Liam Patuzzi
Multimedia July 21, 2021 Supporting Unaccompanied Children in the U.S. Communities Where They Live	Multimedia June 16, 2021 A First Step Towards Equity for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: Identifying Their Language Needs and Characteristics
Commentaries June 2021 A Solvable Challenge: Improving Asylee Access to Health and Other Benefits By Essey Workie, Mark Greenberg and Lillie Hinkle	Commentaries June 2021 Rebuilding the U.S. Education System for the Nation’s English Learners By Melissa Lazarin and Jazmin Flores Peña
Reports June 2021 Strengthening Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities By Mark Greenberg, Kylie Grow, Stephanie Heredia, Kira Monin and Essey Workie	Policy Briefs May 2021 Ending the Invisibility of Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: A Framework for DLL Identification By Maki Park and Delia Pompa

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Reports December 2018 Promoting Refugee Integration in Challenging Times: The Potential of Two-Generation Strategies By Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, Jessica Bolter, Essey Workie and Isabelle Charo	Reports November 2018 Minnesota’s Superdiverse and Growing Dual Language Learner Child Population By Caitlin Katsiaficas and Maki Park
Policy Briefs November 2018 Gauging the Impact of DHS’ Proposed Public-Charge Rule on U.S. Immigration By Randy Capps, Mark Greenberg, Michael Fix and Jie Zong	Policy Briefs June 2018 A Matter of Design: English Learner Program Models in K-12 Education By Julie Sugarman
Reports June 2018 Chilling Effects: The Expected Public Charge Rule and Its Impact on Legal Immigrant Families’ Public Benefits Use By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Mark Greenberg	Reports April 2018 Responding to the ECEC Needs of Children of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe and North America By Maki Park, Caitlin Katsiaficas and Margie McHugh
Reports February 2018 Growing Superdiversity among Young U.S. Dual Language Learners and Its Implications By Maki Park, Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova	Reports February 2018 Mainstreaming 2.0: How Europe’s Education Systems Can Boost Migrant Inclusion By Aliyyah Ahad and Meghan Benton

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Feature

April 1, 2007

Pathways to Success for the Second Generation in Europe

There is an ongoing debate over the children born to Europe's guest workers of the 1960s and 1970s: Can they move up the educational ladder, or will they form a new underclass in Europe's largest cities? Maurice Crul of the University of Amsterdam compares outcomes for second-generation Turkish children across five countries.

Feature

October 1, 2006

The Second Generation in Early Adulthood: New Findings from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study

A decade-long panel survey conducted in San Diego, California, and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, reveals different outcomes among members of the second generation in education, employment, acculturation, incarceration, and family formation. Rubén G. Rumbaut of the University of California, Irvine and Alejandro Portes of Princeton University provide an overview of the latest results.

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Audio

January 25, 2019

Building the Foundations for Inclusion: What Does the Future Hold for Immigrant Integration in Europe?

This meeting highlighted lessons from MPI Europe’s flagship Integration Futures initiative, which seeks to develop creative and strategic approaches to addressing today’s most difficult and pressing integration challenges—and to better plan for those around the corner.

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Video, Audio

December 13, 2018

Exploring the Potential of Two-Generation Strategies in Refugee Integration

On this webinar, MPI researchers and Utah and Colorado refugee coordinators explore promising practices to better serve refugee families, including education services for refugee youth, innovative efforts to secure better jobs for adult refugees, and other services designed to aid integration over time.

Video, Audio

November 20, 2018

Building Bridges Not Walls: Key Lessons from the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report on Migration and Displacement

Marking the U.S.

Video, Audio

August 29, 2018

Young Children in Refugee Families and Early Childhood Programs: Ways to Mitigate the Effects of Trauma

Experts discuss the effects of trauma on the development of young refugee children, and highlight ways early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs can address this trauma, including practical strategies that child-care providers in Canada are using to support the resiliency of refugee children and families.

flickr 21st Century Classroom 4571643113_f2e840ee38_z

Video, Audio

June 27, 2018

K-12 Instructional Models for English Learners: What They Are and Why They Matter

Marking the release of an MPI brief, experts on this webinar examine the key features of English Learner (EL) instructional models and discuss state- and district-level approaches to supporting schools in implementing effective EL program models, with a particular focus on what is being done in New York and M

Recent Activity

Fact Sheets

December 2016

State Sociodemographic Portraits of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young Children

These fact sheets provide a sociodemographic sketch of parents with children ages 0 to 8 in the 30 states with the largest number of immigrant families, offering data and analysis of some of the key parental characteristics to help stakeholders identify populations that could be targets for early childhood and parent-focused programs working to improve child and parent outcomes.

Reports

November 2016

Serving Immigrant Families Through Two-Generation Programs: Identifying Family Needs and Responsive Program Approaches

Two-generation programs that weave together early childhood learning with adult-focused programs hold great potential to break cycles of intergenerational poverty for low-income parents with young children. Little research has been done on how these programs succeed with immigrant families. This report studies select programs and offers analysis of the sociodemographic characteristics of U.S. parents with young children.

Reports

November 2016

A Study of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes among African-Born Women Living in Utah

Resettled African refugee women may experience particularly acute complications during pregnancy, birth, and the child's early infancy. Yet health care-providers and policymakers may not be aware of the particular challenges that these women and their children face. This report, examining women giving birth in Utah over a seven-year period, compares perinatal complications of the African born and a segment of the U.S. born.

Reports

November 2016

The Nutritional Health of Young Refugee Children Resettling in Washington State

Refugee children are vulnerable to health and nutrition risks that can have long-term consequences for their development and well-being. This report examines the prevalence of malnutrition—from stunting and wasting to overweight and obesity—among refugee children from birth to age 10, using data from an overseas medical screening exam before they were resettled in Washington State between 2012 and 2014.

Reports

October 2016

Mental Health Risks and Resilience among Somali and Bhutanese Refugee Parents

Somali and Bhutanese refugees are two of the largest groups recently resettled in the United States and Canada. This report examines factors that might promote or undermine the mental health and overall well-being of children of these refugees, with regard to factors such as past exposure to trauma, parental mental health, educational attainment, social support, and discrimination.

Articles

September 8, 2016

Dual Language Learners in Head Start: The Promises and Pitfalls of New Reforms

The Head Start program—a model for early childhood education programs nationwide—has served more than 33 million children since its inception half a century ago, many from immigrant families. This article examines the role of Head Start in the education of Dual Language Learners, who now comprise one-third of enrollees, and discusses how recent policy changes may affect this population.

Video, Audio, Webinars

August 25, 2016

Closing the Gap? The Role of Funding in Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

This webinar explores the key education funding mechanisms in place to support English Learner elementary and secondary students in the United States, public conversations about funding, and efforts to improve the equitable distribution of educational resources.

Reports

August 2016

Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

With English Learners (ELs) representing nearly 10 percent of U.S. elementary and secondary students, many school districts are struggling to develop the capacity to meet the needs of children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. This study provides an overview of supplementary funding mechanisms to improve EL outcomes, examining policies at state and local levels, and making recommendations for improvement.

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