Abstract
Previous research has found that ethnic educational inequalities arise even before children enroll in primary school. It has been shown that especially for migrants, early participation in education has a positive impact on later educational outcomes, with the acquisition of the host-country language being one of the main mechanisms driving this effect. With the influx of over one million refugees into Germany in recent years, the integration of migrant children, especially refugee children, into the educational system is more salient in educational politics than ever. The first empirical findings on early and preschool education among refugees have shown that while a considerable share of refugee children attend a daycare center, they do so at lower rates than native and other migrant children. This paper aims to examine whether inequalities in the early education of refugee children can be explained by diff erent socioeconomic and migration-related factors known to be associated with inequality in daycare attendance and to explore whether additional refugee-specific factors aff ect the likelihood of enrollment in preschool education. With data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany and the study Refugees in the German Educational System (ReGES), we show that conventional explanatory variables do affect refugee children’s attendance of daycare centers. In addition to children’s age, the employment status of the mother, and the length of stay in Germany are particularly important. However, we see regional differences in participation in preschool education that cannot be explained by the municipal childcare supply.
Highlights
Several studies have shown that children with a migrant background do worse in primary school than those who are native-born
This paper aims to examine whether inequalities in the early education of refugee children can be explained by different socioeconomic and migration-related factors known to be associated with inequality in daycare attendance and to explore whether additional refugee-specific factors affect the likelihood of enrollment in preschool education
With data from the IAB-BAMF-Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) Survey of Refugees in Germany and the study Refugees in the German Educational System (ReGES), we show that conventional explanatory variables do affect refugee children’s attendance of daycare centers
Summary
Several studies have shown that children with a migrant background do worse in primary school than those who are native-born (see, e.g., Dollmann, 2010; Gresch, 2012). Previous research has found that ethnic educational inequalities exist even before children enroll in primary school (e.g., Relikowski et al, 2015) Addressing these inequalities calls for the provision of special pedagogical support for migrant children, especially in learning the language of the host country, as early as possible (see, e.g., Becker & Biedinger, 2006). For refugee children in Germany, attending a daycare center often means coming into contact with the German language as well as with the cultural norms and values of the host society for the first time (see, e.g., Gambaro, Liebau, Peter, & Weinhardt, 2017; von Maurice et al, 2020). Children’s attendance of a daycare center may have positive effects on their parents and families (see, e.g., Gambaro et al, 2017; von Maurice et al, 2020): In particular, the establishment of social contacts is linked to positive effects on parents’ acquisition of cultural knowledge and language skills (for early evidence on this relationship, see Gambaro, Neidhöfer, & Spieß, 2019)
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