Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children: Long-Term Effects on Education and Assimilation

Author: Caterina Pavese (Università di Bologna) • Simon ter Meulen (University of Munich, ifo Institute) • Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich, ifo Institute)
Posted: 8 October 2026

Abstract

Does direct integration into native schools or temporary placement in separate schools better promote the education and cultural assimilation of refugee children? In the Netherlands, primary-school-aged refugee children are placed in either integrated or separated schools depending on their randomly assigned municipality. By contrast, all secondary-school-aged arrivals are initially separated. We exploit this institutional setting in two-way fixed-effects models with age-at-arrival and municipality fixed effects. Using rich administrative data, we find that integrated schooling reduces educational attainment at age 18, particularly for children of lower-educated parents. At the same time, integrated schooling increases cultural assimilation, measured by hormonal-contraceptive usage among teenage women, particularly for children from non-Muslim-majority countries. A distinctive feature of separated schooling that may account for its positive educational effect is that it allows employing teachers specialized in native-language teaching for non-native speakers.
JEL codes: I24, I21, J13, J15, O15
Keywords: refugee children, schools, integration, educational attainment, contraceptives