Abstract
In this chapter we discuss the results in the context of the theories and our working hypotheses on the impact of international migration on fertility. Some reflections are then offered on the work presented here. The study concludes with perspectives for further research. The analyses of the transitions to the three parities have shown the importance of distinguishing between immigrant generations when we study the fertility behavior of immigrants from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and Spain in West Germany. First-generation immigrants are more likely to have a first, second, and third child than are West Germans, whereas women of the second generation have the higher transition rates only for the first (and the third child without significance). The differences in fertility risks between first- and second-generation immigrants are significant for the transitions to a first and second child, but not for the third child.
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Notes
- 1.
Straßburger (2003) has shown, for example, that second-generation migrants of Turkish descent in Germany see their union as constituting a link between the two families.
- 2.
If compared to the first-generation immigrants who gave birth before they moved to West Germany, immigrants coming without a child are on average about two years older at entry into motherhood. This may indicate that migration postpones childbearing, however, such a comparison is not reasonable since it conditions the emigrants on the later move, and we do not have information on all women in the countries of origin, either.
- 3.
The recruitment of highly qualified IT specialists from non-EU countries has been an exception since 2000.
- 4.
This has also been shown for women and men of Turkish descent in The Netherlands (de Valk 2006).
- 5.
Kelek (2006) has pointed out that “the” strong Turkish family coincides with a high degree of social control, as well as a lack of individualization and self-responsibility. Early marriage is seen as desirable mainly for women. Parents may not invest in the (higher) education of their daughters when they assume that the daughter will marry at age 16.
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(2010). Discussion. In: Fertility of Immigrants. Demographic Research Monographs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03705-4_4
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