Fertility Intentions Within a 3-Year Time Frame: a Comparison Between Migrant and Native Italian Women

Abstract

The body of literature on the fertility of migrants in Europe has grown significantly in recent decades. The focus has mostly been on analysing their actual behaviours, and reflection on other crucial aspects extensively analysed in studies on natives has been lacking. In particular, differences between migrants’ reproductive decision-making process and that of natives are currently understudied in the European context. We will focus on the association between demographic and socio-economic characteristics and fertility intentions, comparing native Italian and migrant women in Italy. We apply logistic regression models to analyse factors associated with strong intentions to have a child (or positive fertility intention) and strong intentions not to have a child (or negative fertility intention) in the short term. We use data from the Social Condition and Integration of Foreign Citizens survey on households with at least one foreign member and from the Italian Gender and Generation Survey, both carried out at the national level by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). Net of controlled covariates, migrant women have both higher positive and lower negative fertility intentions within a 3-year time frame than native women do. However, the patterns of fertility intentions are different for natives and migrants as a function of age, educational level, marital status, parity, homeownership and, notably, labour market status. Focusing only on migrant women, we observe that fertility intentions vary by age at arrival and time since migration and that there are significant differences by country and geographical area of birth.

Rural-Urban Migration, Childbearing Decision-Making, Fertility and Contraceptive Perspectives of Street Adolescents and Youth in Kampala, Uganda

“…Notably, this study provided evidence that social and demographic factors, including migration did not influence fertility intentions of street youth in Kampala. This finding is in contrast with previous studies in which age, educational level, and marital status were associated with fertility intentions ( 38 , 39 ). Our previous study showed that despite the existence of many health care facilities in Kampala, access to SRH services among street youth were dismal.…”

Health status and fertility intentions among migrants

“…Kulu, 2005; Milewski, 2010). Migrants’ country of origin is considered a proxy of their values and cultural heritage that is likely to shape not only migrant fertility (Andersson & Scott, 2007; Bijwaard, 2010) but also migrants’ fertility intentions (De Valk, 2013; Mussino et al, 2021) and ideal family size (Mussino & Ortensi, 2018). The length of stay is one of the main determinants of reproductive behaviour, as it was shown that migrants’ fertility usually peaks right after migration and then tends to decrease as the duration of stay in the host country increases (Alderotti et al, 2019; Milewski, 2010).…”

“…Research on migrants’ fertility intentions has only been addressed in a small number of studies (e.g. Carlsson, 2018; Mussino et al, 2021). Most of these studies address very specific cases (e.g.…”

The Interplay Between the Early Work and Family Trajectories of Young Adult Women Born in West Germany: Differences by Parental Origins

“…By contrast, the economic literature has attributed this development to the growth in career opportunities, the increasing relevance of the service sector, and the rise in female wages (Brewster and Rindfuss 2000). In addition, it has been shown that beliefs about the appropriate age for having children and the value attached to motherhood influence transitions to the first birth and that these attitudes vary by level of education, as well as by migration background (Mussino et al 2021).…”