Cultural influence, economic security, and the fertility behavior of the Chinese in Canada

Abstract

This study explores interactions of cultural influence and economic insecurity and their effects on the fertility behavior of the Chinese in Canada. The importance of group context on the actions of individuals is measured through data from the PUST of the 1971 and 1991 Canadian Censuses. Contextual analysis and random coefficient models are the major statistical tools employed to achieve the above objectives. The Chinese-Canadians are compared to the British-Canadians, who are used as the reference group. The findings suggest that Chinese reproductive norms with pronatalist endowments exert strong influence on the fertility behavior of the Chinese in Canada. This influence effectively counteracts the negative effects of economic insecurity and encourages Chinese immigrants to quickly recover their fertility deficit after the initial immigration stage. The effects of the origin culture on fertility diminish with increasing exposure to the host society. However, even among the nativeborn or Canadian-born Chinese, the influence of Chinese reproductive norms is still present though not as strong as among the foreign-born Chinese.

Immigrant–native fertility differentials: The Afghans in Iran

“…The second dimension of adaptation refers to the importance of cultural heritage in the fertility behavior of migrants. Unique norms and values pertaining to family formation reflect the history and beliefs shared by members of an immigrant group regardless of socio-economic status (Abbasi-Shavazi and McDonald, 2000; Carter, 1998; Hammel, 1990; McQuillan, 2004; Sorenson, 1985, 1988; Tang, 2001; Thapa, 1989). This model predicts higher or lower fertility rates of immigrants than that of the natives at every level of socio-economic status because of continuing adherence to the norms and values of the origin society or low level of cultural adaptation to the host society.…”

Factors affecting women's sex preference in multiethnic society in North Khorasan Province, Iran

“…The role of tradition and culture in reproductive decisions and sex preferences are stronger in families belonging to small communities and ethnic minorities, since higher fertility and presence of sons are regarded as factors of power and authority in these communities ( 24 ). According to Félix (2012) and Tong (2001) different ethnic groups demonstrated their sex preference in fertility even after moving, leading to differences in reproductive behavior toward their new hosts ( 26 , 27 ). Interactions of cultural influence and economic insecurity affect the reproductive behavior.…”

“…Analysis of these findings showed that the norms and cultural beliefs of people with respect to fertility, has a great impact on reproductive behavior of these people. This influence effectively shows the effect of original culture on fertility, demanding the compensation of lower fertility after the initial immigration phase ( 27 ). Another reason for stronger sex preferences in Turkman society relative to other ethnic groups is related to the type of employment, traditional economy and residence of Turkman people.…”