ABSTRACT
Many social scientists researching the second generation single out the socio-economic characteristics of the parents as one of the crucial variables influencing future patterns of their children’s integration (Bankston & Zhou 1994; Crul & Doomernik 2003; Fibbi & Wanner 2009; Stepick & Stepick 2003). This chapter therefore examines the cultural, social and financial capital of the parents of TIES survey respondents. As Bourdieu (1994) pointed out, these three main forms of capital are intimately connected and can easily be transmuted from one form to another. Moreover, material possessions, money (financial capital), education, class distinctions (cultural capital), and social networks (social capital) can all be transmitted from one generation to another and thus intimately affect the integration processes of all children into a given society (Bommes 2005). Migration processes, however, interfere with the valorisation of these types of capital and may disrupt their transmission while at the same time opening the way for new opportunities and pitfalls (Esser 2001; Waters et al. 2004).
