The social stratification of European schoolchildren’s transnational experiences: a cross-country analysis of the International Civics and Citizenship Study

In the wake of European border removal, scholars have been puzzled by the slow and limited Europeanization of everyday life. Only a small group of Europeans with high socio-economic status regularly interact across borders. However, we do not know well how these socio-economic differences come about, and by which country-level characteristics they are influenced. This article asks whether social inequalities of transnational interactions exist already among secondary schoolchildren, and which country-level factors promote transnational interactions and moderate their stratification. Relying on a multi-level analysis of the International Civics and Citizenship Study in 21 European states in 2009, it shows that parental socio-economic status influences transnational interactions of their offspring in almost all countries analysed. Second, economic differences also matter across countries, youth living in wealthier economies being more transnational. At the same time, economic prosperity serves as an ‘elevator’ that decreases the socio-economic differences in transnational behaviour.