The repeated failure of Ireland's potato crop in the late 1840s led to a major famine and sparked a surge in migration to the US. We build a new dataset of Irish immigrants and their sons by linking males from 1850 to 1880 US census records. For comparison, we also link German and British immigrants, their sons, and males from US native-headed households. We document a decline in the observable human capital of famine-era Irish migrants compared to pre-famine Irish migrants and to other groups in the 1850 census, as well as worse labor market outcomes. The disparity in labor market outcomes persists into the next generation when immigrants’ and natives’ sons are compared in 1880. Nonetheless, we find strong evidence of intergenerational convergence in that famine-era Irish sons experienced a much smaller gap in occupational status in 1880 than their fathers did in 1850. The disparities are even smaller when the Irish children are compared to those from observationally similar native white households. A descriptive analysis of mobility for the children of the famine Irish indicates that having a more Catholic surname and being born in Ireland were associated with less upward mobility. Our results contribute to literatures on immigrant assimilation, refugee migration, and the Age of Mass Migration.

1840年代后期，爱尔兰马铃薯作物的屡次歉收导致重大饥荒，并激起了向美国的移民潮。通过链接1850年至1880年美国人口普查记录中的男性，我们建立了爱尔兰移民及其儿子的新数据集。为了进行比较，我们还将德国和英国的移民，他们的儿子和来自美国的以美国为首的家庭的男性联系起来。我们记录到，在1850年的人口普查中，与饥荒前的爱尔兰移民和其他群体相比，饥荒时代的爱尔兰移民的可观察到的人力资本有所下降，而且劳动力市场的状况也更差。1880年比较了移民和当地人的儿子后，劳动力市场成果的差异一直持续到下一代。我们发现有代际趋同的有力证据，即饥荒时期的爱尔兰儿子在1880年的职业地位差距比其父亲在1850年的差距小得多。当将爱尔兰的孩子与观察到的相似的白人家庭相比时，差异甚至更小。 。对饥荒爱尔兰儿童的行动能力进行的描述性分析表明，天主教姓氏较高且在爱尔兰出生与向上行动能力的降低有关。我们的研究结果为有关移民同化，难民移民和大规模移民时代的文献做出了贡献。对饥荒爱尔兰儿童的行动能力进行的描述性分析表明，天主教姓氏较高且在爱尔兰出生与向上行动能力的降低有关。我们的研究结果为有关移民同化，难民移民和大规模移民时代的文献做出了贡献。对饥荒爱尔兰儿童的行动能力进行的描述性分析表明，天主教姓氏较高且在爱尔兰出生与向上行动能力的降低有关。我们的研究结果为有关移民同化，难民移民和大规模移民时代的文献做出了贡献。