Disparity in high school enrollment between native and immigrant children in Japan

Using nonlinear decomposition, this study examines the gap in high school enrollment between native and immigrant children based on data from the 2010 Population Census. The school attendance probability of immigrant children is significantly lower than that of native children. Factors contributing to the gap are the length of stay in Japan, parental employment status, and home ownership. The total explained part of all observable factors is approximately 30% in the comparison between native and immigrant children whose parents are both foreigners. Furthermore, immigrant children who do not attend high school are more likely to be unemployed.