Mixed Race Studies

Socioemotional wellbeing of mixed race/ethnicity children in the UK and US: Patterns and mechanisms

SSM – Population Health
Volume 5, August 2018
Pages 147-159
DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.06.010

James Nazroo, Honorary Professor of Sociology
Cathie Marsh Institute, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Afshin Zilanawala, Senior Research Associate
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Meichu Chen, Research Associate Social/Behavioral Sciences Intermediate
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Laia Bécares, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Science (Social Work and Social Care)
University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

Pamela Davis-Kean, Professor of Psychology; Research Professor
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

James S. Jackson, Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor of Psychology; Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Yvonne Kelly, Professor of Lifecourse Epidemiology
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Lidia Panico, Researcher
Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques, Paris, France

Amanda Sacker, Professor of Lifecourse Studies
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Highlights

• Mixed race/ethnicity children are thought to have poorer socioemotional wellbeing
• We find no evidence that mixed race/ethnicity children have poorer socioemotional wellbeing in a study covering children aged 5/6 in the US and UK
• We find that mixed race/ethnicity children do have socio-economic advantage
• This socio-economic advantage is protective for socioemotional wellbeing

Existing literature suggests that mixed race/ethnicity children are more likely to experience poor socioemotional wellbeing in both the US and the UK, although the evidence is stronger in the US. It is suggested that this inequality may be a consequence of struggles with identity formation, more limited connections with racial/ethnic/cultural heritage, and increased risk of exposure to racism.

Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 13,734) and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ~ 6250), we examine differences in the socioemotional wellbeing of mixed and non-mixed 5/6 year old children in the UK and US and explore heterogeneity in outcomes across different mixed groups in both locations. We estimate a series of linear regressions to examine the contribution of factors that may explain any observed differences, including socio-economic and cultural factors, and examine the extent to which these processes vary across the two nations.

We find no evidence of greater risk for poor socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in both national contexts. We find that mixed race/ethnicity children experience socio-economic advantage compared to their non-mixed minority counterparts and that socio-economic advantage is protective for socioemotional wellbeing. Cultural factors do not contribute to differences in socioemotional wellbeing across mixed and non-mixed groups.

Our evidence suggests then that at age 5/6 there is no evidence of poorer socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in either the UK or the US. The contrast between our findings and some previous literature, which reports that mixed race/ethnicity children have poorer socioemotional wellbeing, may reflect changes in the meaning of mixed identities across periods and/or the developmental stage of the children we studied.

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The social and economic circumstances of mixed ethnicity children in the UK: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

Ethnic and Racial Studies
First Published online: 2011-03-10
DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2011.556745

Lidia Panico, Research Student
Department for Epidemiology and Public Health
University College London

James Y. Nazroo, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research
University of Manchester

The number of people with a ‘mixed’ ethnicity heritage is growing in contemporary Britain. Research in this area has largely focused on implications for cultural and racialized identities, and little is known about associated economic and social factors. Data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a representative panel survey of children born in 2000-2001, are used to examine the circumstances of mixed ethnicity children in comparison with their non-mixed and white counterparts. Findings suggest a cultural location between ‘white’ and minority identities, and socio-economic advantage in comparison with non-mixed counterparts. For example, households of non-mixed white children had poorer economic profiles than households of both mixed white and mixed Indian children. This effect is associated with the presence of a white parent, and the factors underlying it are examined. Although the statistical approach used bypasses a consideration of the dynamics of identity, it provides important evidence on stratification and inequality, and the factors driving this.

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