No abstract

This paper examines certain factors that have contributed to the decline in fertility in the Gulf Cooperation Council G.C.C. countries in recent years, taking the United Arab Emirates "U.A.E." as a case study. Employing data from the 2008 U.A.E. Household Expenditure Survey, this paper analyzes the determinants of fertility using a Poisson fertility count model. The results show that economic factors, in terms of the costs and benefits that families derive from children in the U.A.E. are not important determinants of fertility due to the large size of social insurance provided by the U.A.E. government. Moreover, labor market participation by either males or females do not play a critical role in determining fertility in the U.A.E. The two primary causes of declines in fertility are a) late marriages or late first births, and b) higher levels of female education. Other contributors to drops in fertility are marriages between U.A.E. national males and foreign females and increases in child birth intervals. Conversely, the size of household residences and the number of domestic workers working in a household contribute positively to fertility.

The United Arab Emirates’ migration system, the sponsorship–based kafala system, is defined as a temporary labour–migration regime. Although there are policies making permanent residence unattainable for virtually all migrants, it is still relevant to explore the temporality of migrations in the UAE. The purpose of this study is to investigate developments in migration, migration policies and population trends in the country, including trends that concern the duration of migrants’ stay. We also identify some of the major strategies used by migrants to prolong their sojourn in the UAE. It is maintained that the migrant stock has increased continuously in the last decades and that a large number of migrants devise strategies to continue their residence and remain in the country for years. The authors also identify and discuss migrants’ transition within and in‐between regularity and irregularity, and analyse the reasons for utilizing different strategies over time.

This article compares migrants’ rights and labour-migration policies of three resource-rich receiving countries located in the Persian Gulf, North America and Europe, respectively. The wealthy economies of Canada, Norway and the United Arab Emirates have emerged as some of the largest receivers of labour migrants. The comparative analysis herein focuses on distinctive characteristics of the different migration regimes and policies which regulate the rights of labour migrants. It is maintained that the countries we have explored could hardly be more different, and that the actual similarities with regard to migration policies are limited. Yet, we have still identified some surprising and unexpected converging trends. Specifically, these countries use some similar tools and exclusionary policies in order to restrict the legal status of certain categories of labour migrants, particularly low-skilled migrants.