Influences of origin and destination on migrant fertility in Europe

Abstract

The current study examines the quantum of childbearing of migrants from low-fertility contexts (Poland and Romania) at multiple destinations (Italy and the UK), and compares them to stayers at origin and to non-migrants at destination, combining the multi-origin/multi-destination approach with the 'context-of-origin' perspective. Using data from the Labour Force Surveys (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) and adopting a gender and a couple perspective, we show that Polish and Romanian women have fewer children than non-migrants at destinations. Romanian migrant women and men have a fertility similar to that of stayers at the origin, especially in UK, suggesting a socialization pattern for this group. Our findings also suggest the presence of the disruption mechanism for migrants, mainly in the short term, combined with a 'catch-up' in the long run explained by family reunification, primarily in Italy. However, the 'catch-up' over time of residence is found to be slower compared to previous studies. Finally, we find selection into migration and into different destination play an important role.

Migrants' choices pertaining to informal childcare in Italy and France: A complex relationship between the origin and destination countries

“…Childcare is a challenging issue for migrants settling into their destination country with their families. This study is one of the first to examine the use of informal childcare and choices pertaining to specific informal childcare arrangements among migrants using a ‘multi‐origin/multi‐destination approach’ (Mussino & Cantalini, 2022, p. 2), meaning that we looked at migrants from the same regions of origin across two destination countries. Previous studies on both formal and informal have largely focused on a single pair of destination country and origin country (e.g., Mugadza et al, 2019), multiple regions of origin within a single destination country (e.g., Biegel et al, 2021; Liang et al, 2000; Santhiveeran, 2010) or two destination countries (e.g., Krapf, 2014; Wall & José, 2004) alongside a single origin country (e.g., Barglowski & Pustulka, 2018).…”

“…The second element of the conceptual framework (Figure 1) highlights the influential role of the destination country in shaping migrants' childcare choices. For the purposes of this paper, ‘the destination country’ encompasses that country's social and cultural norms, institutional dynamics and economic conditions as they are experienced by migrants (Mussino & Cantalini, 2022). This context plays a pivotal role in determining the opportunities, challenges and resources available to migrants in their new environment, ultimately influencing their childcare decisions.…”

“…This study aims to shed light on the various informal childcare solutions that migrant parents may use for both preschool and school‐age children (0 to 11‐year‐old) in Italy and France. To do so, it employs a ‘multi‐origin/multi‐destination approach’, which has been used in previous studies on fertility among migrants (Mussino & Cantalini, 2022, p. 2). This analysis contributes to the existing literature on migrants' childcare, introducing the assumption that the use of informal childcare as well as the specific informal childcare arrangements used may be influenced by migrants' country of origin, destination country and the interplay between them.…”

Do leave policies impact fertility? The case of immigrants from low-fertility countries in Sweden

“…This also explains why different migrant groups in the same destination country exhibit different fertility levels (e.g. Andersson 2004;Mussino & Cantalini 2021).…”

Rural–Urban Migration and Fertility Ideation in Senegal: Comparing Returned, Current, and Future Migrants to Dakar to Rural Nonmigrants

“…Support for socialization has frequently been found in observed higher fertility among foreign‐born women when compared to native‐born women at the destination (Kulu et al. 2019) and may help explain how migrants from different origins living in the same destination exhibit lasting differences in fertility levels net of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics (Gabrielli, Paterno, and White 2007; Lindstrom, Hernandez‐Jabalera, and Saucedo 2021; Mussino and Cantalini 2022). If socialization were deterministic, however, we would expect to see little or no difference between migrants and nonmigrants in their place of origin.…”