This study develops and tests two hypotheses regarding how childhood, adolescent, and postadolescent migration are associated with social integration in adulthood. Competing explanations are tested by estimating a number of models that control for earlier family context and contemporary adult characteristics. Using a national longitudinal and intergenerational data set, the results reveal that the age when a move occurred is associated with both higher and lower levels of social integration in adulthood. The direction of the associations depends on the sex of the offspring, the age at migration, and the measure of social integration. Adolescence appears to be the age when the effects of migration are most pronounced. Variables such as experiencing a parental divorce, low parental support, or growing up in a stepfamily and variables measuring adult characteristics of the adult offspring alter modestly the migration-integration relationships.

social integration Migration Family context

[No Keywords available]