It was in the 1950s when American social researchers, Ruth and John Useem, conceived the term Third Culture Kids. They used this term to refer to children who, during their developmental years, were raised in a culture that was different to that of their parents’ culture.

The work of Andrea M. Moore and Gina G. Barker – ‘Confused or Multicultural: Third Culture Individuals’ - explained that Third Culture Kids are children who have been immersed in a different culture from that of their birth country, prior to their own personal and cultural identity being fully developed.

Initially, the term Third Culture Kids was only used to describe the children born to American citizens who were living and working abroad; however, due to globalization, this term has evolved to include anyone in this same situation – regardless of their country of origin.  In addition, the term Third Culture Kids has been widened to include refugee and migrant children, rather than just the children of people living abroad due to their career choices, such as missionaries, diplomats and the military.

What Are the Benefits of Being a ‘Third Culture Kid’?

We all know that a child’s early developmental years can be quite difficult, and that’s without moving from one country to another, so you may be wondering what the benefits are of being a Third Culture Kid. Probably the most beneficial advantage of being a Third Culture Kid is that these children are usually bilingual, and in some cases they’re multilingual - all due to the fact that they lived abroad at such an early age and these are their first-hand experiences. These children also have a cross-cultural and expanded world view, leading them to be more open and sensitive to other cultures – certainly more so than non-Third Culture Kids.

Today we’re learning just how intricate the relationship can be between language and culture.

A Very Famous ‘Third Culture Kid’

Barack Obama is a multi-racial Third Culture Kid: Barack was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was raised in Indonesia and Chicago.

The Characteristics of ‘Third Culture Kids’

We see very clear characteristics that impact a typical Third Culture Kid (TCK), such as –

TCKs are four times more likely than non-TCKs to have a Bachelor’s Degree – the figures are 81% as against 21%;

Compared to 5% of the non-TCK population, 40% of TCKs earn an Advanced Degree;

Before earning a Degree, 45% of the TCKs attended three universities;

44% of TCKs earned an Under Graduate Degree after the age of 22;

The most common professions for TCKs is medicine, education, self-employment, and professional positions;

90% of these people feel ‘out of sync’ with their peers;

TCKs usually marry when they’re older than 25, and their divorce rates are lower than the general population: the exceptions to this rule are military TCKs who tend to marry earlier;

90% of TCKs claim that they understand other people and cultures better than the average American;

It’s unlikely that a TCK will follow their parents’ career choices;

Most TCKs are linguistically very adept; and again, military TCKs would be the exception to this rule;

TCK teenagers are more mature than non-TCKs, but strangely they take longer to grow up in their 20s;

These people are much more welcoming of other nationalities into their community;

TCKs often lack a sense of ‘where home’ is;

Some studies have shown that TCKs have an urge to ‘settle down’, while other studies show a ‘restlessness to move’; and

Sadly, suicide and depression are more prominent among TCKs.

Taking all this information into consideration, Third Culture Kids certainly sound like the perfect candidates for a career in the field of translation!