Kick It Like Özil? Second Generation Migrants’ Initial Disadvantage and the Failure of the Education System∗

We investigate second generation migrants and natives in Germany’s education system. We determine at what stage the persistent native-migrant gap in labor market and schooling outcomes emerges. Controlling for family background and other characteristics, we employ a matching approach in order to account for the fact that migrants and natives are different. We find that second generation migrants are initially disadvantaged due to both their socioeconomic family background and the education system. We also find that comparable natives, in terms of family background, face similar difficulties. Thus, Germany’s education system fails to provide equal opportunities for all initially disadvantaged individuals.