German From Birth: the Influence of Nationality on Education Participation and Success

Does the birthplace principle have a positive impact on the education participation and success of immigrant children? Since the reform of the German citizenship law in 2000 children of foreign parents living in Germany can obtain German citizenship under certain conditions according to the birthplace principle. Analyses of administrative microdata sets enable a comparison with those children who were born (shortly) prior to the reference date of 1 January 2000. The results show that German citizenship for the children of foreign parents can initially lead to positive effects on education participation rates. Moreover, the results also suggest that higher education participation rates do not lead to a lasting improvement in success rates. They reveal that German citizenship does not improve children’s school performance. Integration via citizenship at birth alone is not enough to guarantee lasting success in the German education system. Further political efforts are required to tap the education potential of immigrant children more effectively.