Immigrant fertility in West Germany: is there a socialization effect in transitions to second and third births?

In this paper on immigrant fertility in West Germany, we estimate the transition rates to second and third births, using intensity-regression models. The data come from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. We distinguish women of the first and the second immigrant generations originating from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and Spain, and compare their fertility levels to those of West German women. In the theoretical framework, we discuss competing hypotheses on migrant fertility. The findings support mainly the socialization hypothesis: the transition rates of first-generation immigrants vary by country of origin, and the fertility patterns of migrant descendants resemble more closely those of West Germans than those of the first immigrant generation. In addition, the analyses show that fertility differentials between immigrants and women of the indigenous population can largely, though not in full, be explained by compositional differences.Dans cet article relatif à la fécondité des immigrées en Allemagne, le passage du premier au deuxieme enfant et dans celui du deuxieme au troisieme enfant est estimé à partir de modèles de régression à risques instantanés. Les données utilisées proviennent de l’étude de Panel socio-économique allemand. On distingue les femmes immigrées de première ou de seconde génération originaires de Turquie, d’ex-Yougoslavie, de Grèce, d’Italie et d’Espagne, et leurs niveaux de fécondité sont comparés à ceux des femmes ouest-allemandes d’origine. Des hypothèses concurrentes sur la fécondité des immigrés sont discutées dans le cadre théorique. Les résultats vérifient principalement l’hypothèse de la socialisation : le passage au deuxieme et au troisieme enfant de la première génération d’immigrés varie selon le pays d’origine, et le profil de fécondité par âge des descendantes d’immigrées se rapproche plus de celui des femmes ouest-allemandes que de celui des immigrées de première génération. De plus, les analyses montrent que les différences de fécondité entre les immigrées et les femmes ouest-allemandes peuvent être en grande partie, mais pas totalement, expliquées par des différences de structure

Socialization, Adaptation, Transnationalism, and the Reproductive Behavior of Sub-Saharan African Migrants in France

Background:  Migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) move from a region with high fertility to regions with low fertility. Yet very few studies have examined the reproductive behavior of international migrants from SSA. Objective: This study examines the roles of origin and destination socialization on the fertility and fertility ideals of SSA migrants in France. The study draws on measures of assimilation to systematically examine the effects of socialization and adaptation as well as transnationalism for the effects of sustained origin ties.  Methods: Data are from the TEO (“Trajectoires et Origines”) survey conducted in France (2008/2009). Logistic regression is used to examine current fertility (the odds of having a birth in the preceding five years), and Poisson regression is used to examine cumulative fertility (children ever born) and fertility ideals (reported ideal number of children in a family). Results: Controlling for sociodemographic factors, first-generation SSA migrants have higher fertility than second-generation SSA migrants and non-immigrants. But first and second-generation SSA migrants have higher fertility ideals than non-immigrants. Among SSA migrants, first and second-generation migrants do not differ in fertility and fertility ideals when adaptation is accounted for. Most measures of adaptation are negatively associated with actual fertility and fertility ideals. Transnationalism is associated with higher fertility ideals but less so with actual fertility. Conclusion: The study finds some evidence for origin socialization, but the findings are more strongly supportive of adaptation to the host society. Origin socialization appears to have a stronger influence on fertility ideals than actual fertility