The Political Participation of Immigrant Youth in Belgium

Research on the political participation of ethnic minorities routinely reveals that immigrants have lower levels of participation, mainly due to their lower socio-economic status. This article investigates whether younger immigrants also display lower levels of political participation. It is based on a representative survey of 6,330 16-year-olds in Belgium. The results demonstrate that, while young immigrant people do not have lower levels of political participation, there are clear differences: participation is influenced by gender, socio-economic situation, mother tongue and sense of group identity, not by citizenship status, television or religion.