A third-culture kid is someone who spends a significant portion of their childhood in a culture that is different from the country they legally “belong” in (as citizens or legal residents). It is often used to describe the children of expats or missionaries or “military brats,” particularly those whose families intend to return “home” at some point.

The current official definition (from Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, see below) is: “a traditional third culture kid is a person who spends a significant part of [their] first eighteen years of life accompanying parent(s) into a country or countries that are different from at least one parents’ passport country(ies) due to a parent’s choice of work or advanced training.”

What are the three cultures?

The first culture is the country that legally recognizes the child as belonging there, where they have a passport or a greencard.

The second culture is the country where a child physically lives and builds a life. A kid can have more than one first culture or more than one second culture depending on the circumstances– and many do!

The third culture is made up of the commonalities of having a “globally mobile” lifestyle.

What if I don’t quite fit in the “third-culture kid” model?

You’d be in good company! “Cross-cultural kid” is a broader term for any child who has crossed borders to live (including cultural borders within a country), whether they’re immigrants, refugees, minorities within a country, children who cross international borders to go to school or because they live in a community that traditionally lives across modern political borders, or TCKs. Much of what we know about third-culture kids applies to cross-cultural kids too.

What should I do to learn more?

To learn more about third-culture kids, Allie recommends Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken, & Michael V. Pollock