Oral histories were recorded of people who had come through ellis island a now, a hundred years ago. Research assistants listen to these stories and record for accent. And we can see which countries, which ar ivil periods, which religions, et cetera. Youkno know, have a eventually receive a higher english ability by the end of life.
Immigration to the United States, say Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan, is more novel than short story: It takes decades for new immigrants to catch up economically. But their kids on average thrive economically and have higher rates of upward mobility than American-born kids. Abramitzky and Boustan talk about their book Streets of Gold with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Using an extraordinary data set of millions of Americans, Boustan and Abramitzky find that today's immigrants and their children are surprisingly similar to yesterday's.