Editorial on the Special Issue “New Aspects on Migrant Populations in Europe: Norms, Attitudes and Intentions in Fertility and Family Planning”

This paper reviews the most recent literature on the fertility of migrant populations in Europe. In a systematic review of 21 peer-reviewed journals, we found that the literature has focused almost exclusively on actual behaviours related to the quantum and timing of births; it primarily investigates the determinants of demographic behaviour related to the structural integration of migrants. Previous literature on the demographic behaviour of migrants in Europe used factors related to culture more as a residual explanation for group differences, but it barely addressed their role specifically. The aim of our Special Issue is to draw attention to the normative side of fertility and to include aspects of reproductive health and family planning in the picture – both aspects are related to culture. This paper includes a short introduction to the articles contained in this Special Issue and proposes recommendations for future research

Editorial on the Special Issue "New Aspects on Migrant Populations in Europe: Norms, Attitudes and Intentions in Fertility and Family Planning"

This paper reviews the most recent literature on the fertility of migrant populations in Europe. In a systematic review of 21 peer-reviewed journals, we found that the literature has focused almost exclusively on actual behaviours related to the quantum and timing of births; it primarily investigates the determinants of demographic behaviour related to the structural integration of migrants. Previous literature on the demographic behaviour of migrants in Europe used factors related to culture more as a residual explanation for group differences, but it barely addressed their role specifically. The aim of our Special Issue is to draw attention to the normative side of fertility and to include aspects of reproductive health and family planning in the picture - both aspects are related to culture. This paper includes a short introduction to the articles contained in this Special Issue and proposes recommendations for future research

Short term reproductive behaviour of foreign women who became mothers between 2002-2006 in Italy

The rapid increase in the number of foreigners in Italy has raised public interest in their demographic behaviour. In 2001-2007 the annual number of births to at least one foreign parent has more than doubled, from about 41,000 to more than 86,000. The main objective of this study is to give an overview of the demographic characteristics of foreign mothers in Italy. We investigate the risk of having another birth for women who became mothers between 2002 and 2006. The new approach in this study is the application of a deterministic record linkage to Italian administrative data on births, which allows a longitudinal analysis of birth histories. The results show that citizenship remains one of the most important factors in explaining the high heterogeneity in the reproductive behaviour among the mothers. The possibility of an `assimilative behaviour' to fertility patterns of native Italians increases for mothers whose partner is Italian.

The Same Fertility Ideals as in the Country of Origin? A Study of the Personal Ideal Family Size among Immigrant Women in Italy

The role of the personal ideal family size for international migrants has rarely been studied in the current debate on fertility and migration in the European context. It is not known to which extent the reduction of fertility observed among immigrants who settle in a country where fertility is lower than in their country of origin is the result of a change in fertility norms among those immigrants. The study of migrants’ ideals family size has the potential to shed light on fertility norms without the interference of economic conditions and migration-related disruptive phenomena. Due to the complexity of its migration context, Italy is an interesting destination country for studying changes in migrants’ ideal family sizes. This paper uses data from the survey of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on immigrant families conducted in 2011-12. We compare the personal ideal family size of women of reproductive age with the prevalent norm in their country of origin, applying a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results show that the country of origin has an important role in the determination of immigrants’ ideal family sizes. Women from countries where large families are the ideal are more likely to show a lower personal ideal family size compared to their non-migrant co-nationals, while women from countries where two children are considered ideal mostly share the same norm. The occurrence of fertility preferences expressed in a non-numeric form (e.g. “Up to God”) changes between women with different countries of origin. This study confirms that conformity with the ideal of the country of origin is more likely among women who migrated as adults. At the same time, the number of years spent in the destination country is not significantly associated with a shift away from the norms prevalent in the country of origin. Finally, female empowerment and gender equity show their effects mainly on the reduction of non-numeric responses. *             This article belongs to a special issue on migrant fertility

Over-coverage in population registers leads to bias in demographic estimates.

Published online: 14 Nov 2019 Estimating the number of individuals living in a country is an essential task for demographers. This study assesses the potential bias in estimating the size of different migrant populations due to over-coverage in population registers. Over-coverage-individuals registered but not living in a country-is an increasingly pressing phenomenon however, there is no common understanding of how to deal with over-coverage in demographic research. This study examines different approaches to and improvements in over-coverage estimation using Swedish total population register data. We assess over-coverage levels across migrant groups, test how estimates of age-specific death and fertility rates are affected when adjusting for over-coverage, and examine whether over-coverage can explain part of the healthy migrant paradox. Our results confirm the existence of over-coverage and we find substantial changes in mortality and fertility rates, when adjusted, for people of migrating age. Accounting for over-coverage is particularly important for correctly estimating migrant fertility. Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland [293103] Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council [340-2013-5164] Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and WelfareSwedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council for Health Working Life & Welfare (Forte

Multiple systems estimation for studying over-coverage and its heterogeneity in population registers

The growing necessity for evidence-based policy built on rigorous research has never been greater. However, the ability of researchers to provide such evidence is invariably tied to the availability of high-quality data. Bias stemming from over-coverage in official population registers, i.e. resident individuals whose death or emigration is not registered, can lead to serious implications for policymaking and research. Using Swedish Population registers and the statistical framework of multiple systems estimation, we estimate the extent of over-coverage among foreign-born individuals’ resident in Sweden for the period 2003–2016. Our study reveals that, although over-coverage is low during this period in Sweden, we observed a distinct heterogeneity in over-coverage across various sub-populations, suggesting significant variations among them. We also evaluated the implications of omitting each of the considered registers on real data and simulated data, and highlight the potential bias introduced when the omitted register interacts with the included registers. Our paper underscores the broad applicability of multiple systems estimation in addressing and mitigating bias from over-coverage in scenarios involving incomplete but overlapping population registers

Explaining COVID-19 mortality among immigrants in Sweden from a social determinants of health perspective (COVIS): protocol for a national register-based observational study

Introduction: Adopting a social determinants of health perspective, this project aims to study how disproportionate COVID-19 mortality among immigrants in Sweden is associated with social factors operating through differential exposure to the virus (eg, by being more likely to work in high-exposure occupations) and differential effects of infection arising from socially patterned, pre-existing health conditions, differential healthcare seeking and inequitable healthcare provision. Methods and analysis: This observational study will use health (eg, hospitalisations, deaths) and sociodemographic information (eg, occupation, income, social benefits) from Swedish national registers linked using unique identity numbers. The study population includes all adults registered in Sweden in the year before the start of the pandemic (2019), as well as individuals who immigrated to Sweden or turned 18 years of age after the start of the pandemic (2020). Our analyses will primarily cover the period from 31 January 2020 to 31 December 2022, with updates depending on the progression of the pandemic. We will evaluate COVID-19 mortality differences between foreign-born and Swedish-born individuals by examining each mechanism (differential exposure and effects) separately, while considering potential effect modification by country of birth and socioeconomic factors. Planned statistical modelling techniques include mediation analyses, multilevel models, Poisson regression and event history analyses. Ethics and dissemination: This project has been granted all necessary ethical permissions from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2022-0048-01) for accessing and analysing deidentified data. The final outputs will primarily be disseminated as scientific articles published in open-access peer-reviewed international journals, as well as press releases and policy briefs