Differences in school failure in Italy. New insights from children of mixed and non-mixed parental couples

While literature on mixed couples and intermarriages has a long-standing tradition in migration and sociodemographic studies, there are still a few studies going beyond the couple by looking at the children of mixed parental couples. An increase in mixed couples in contemporary societies is generating highly complex networks of family, relational and educational practices. From a theoretical point of view, growing up embedded in a mixed-origin family background may have positive consequences on children in terms of cultural richness and smother integration, but can also be the source of tensions and conflicts stemming from socioeconomic and cultural differences and stigmatization. This article is aimed at comparing the children of mixed parental couples to children of non-mixed parental couples (second-generation immigrants and children of natives) not only to search for differences on their educational outcomes but also to explore whether and how their performance by type of parental couple changes when considering the characteristics of both parents (age, gender, level of education, working status, two-parents household). Results find support for the model of integration based on the additive effects of having a native parent given that the probabilities of failure of children of mixed couples is halfway those of children of native and immigrant parental couples.