Contingent Transition to Triumph: Socioeconomic Attainments of Chinese Immigrants’ Children in Hong Kong

This article examines socioeconomic attainments of Chinese immigrants' children in Hong Kong. Analyses of a subsample ages twenty-three to twenty-seven from the 2006 by-census data show that, children of immigrant parents enjoy advantages in education, occupational, and earnings attainments, compared to children of native parents. Such a transition to triumph, however, is contingent upon their parents' socioeconomic backgrounds: the success of these second-generation immigrants seems to be more pronounced among those from lower socioeconomic families. These findings challenge the cultural explanations for the greater success of immigrants' children in Western societies, and suggest that motivation for upward mobility plays an important role in their status attainment.