Contextual explanations for numeracy and literacy skill disparities between native and foreign-born adults in western countries

Using new direct measures of numeracy and literacy skills among 85,875 adults in 17 Western
countries, we find that foreign-born adults have lower mean skills than native-born adults of the
same age (16 to 64) in all of the examined countries. The gaps are small, and vary substantially between countries. Multilevel models reveal that immigrant populations' demographic and socioeconomic characteris…