WELCOME TO ILSEG

The Longitudinal Study of the Second Generation (ILSEG) in its Spanish initials represents the first attempt to conduct a large-scale study of the adaptation of children of immigrants to Spanish society over time. To that end, a large and statistically representative sample of children born to foreign parents in Spain or those brought at an early age to the country was identified and interviewed in metropolitan Madrid and Barcelona. In total, almost 7,000 children of immigrants attending basic secondary school in close to 200 educational centers in both cities took part in the study.

The original survey was conducted in 2007-08; four years later, the same sample was traced and re-interviewed either at school, via telephone, or through contact in the social media (Facebook and Tuenti). Through these means, the research team was able to identify and re-interview 73 percent of the original sample for which retrieval information was available. An additional replacement sample of over 1,500 second generation youths of the same average age as the original respondents was interviewed in the same schools in which the original study took place. Finally, and for comparative purposes, a sample of native-parentage Spanish youths was interviewed at the same time.

In total, over 7,000 cases were included in the second phase of the study, representing the largest available longitudinal data set on the second generation, not only in Spain but in all of Western Europe. The surveys cover all relevant aspects of adaptation and psycho-social development in late adolescence, including educational achievement and aspirations; labor market participation, occupation, and income; family structure and inter-generational relations; language knowledge, preferences, and use; friends’ national origins and educational plans; national self-identification, self-esteem, and other psychological outcomes.

To supplement the information from immigrant children, the study also conducted a person-to-person survey of 25 percent of their parents.   They were interviewed in Spanish or in their native language.  The parental survey is representative of the earlier studies sample, including near identical proportions of all foreign nationalities present in the latter.  Results of the study have been published in several academic articles in English and Spanish, numerous press articles, and a forthcoming book. 

ILSEG Team

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ILSEG Publications: