Journal Article

Intergenerational Fertility among Hispanic Women: New Evidence of Immigrant Assimilation

Morgan, S. Philip, Parrado, Emilio A.

2008

Overview

In recent decades, rapid growth of the U.S. Hispanic population has raised concerns about immigrant adaptation, including fertility. Empirical research suggests that Hispanics, especially Mexicans, might not be following the historical European pattern of rapid intergenerational fertility decline (and convergence toward native levels). If confirmed, continued high Hispanic fertility could indicate a broader lack of assimilation into mainstream American society. In this paper, we reexamine the issue of Hispanic and Mexican fertility using an approach that combines biological and immigrant generations to more closely approximate a comparison of immigrant women with those of their daughters' and granddaughters' generation. Contrary to cross-sectional results, our new analyses show that Hispanic and Mexican fertility is converging with that of whites, and that it is similarly responsive to period conditions and to women's level of education. In addition, we employ a mathematical simulation to illustrate the conditions under which cross-sectional analyses can produce misleading results. Finally, we discuss the import of the fertility convergence we document for debates about immigrant assimilation.

• Publisher: Population Association of America,Springer-Verlag,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Acculturation / Adaptation / Adolescent / Adult / Assimilation / Behavior / Birth Rate - trends / Cohort Studies / Convergence / Cross-Sectional Studies / Cultural assimilation / Daughters / Demography / Education / Educational attainment / Emigrants and Immigrants / Evidence-Based Medicine / Families & family life / Female / Female fertility / Fertility / Fertility decline / Geography / Hispanic Americans / Hispanic or Latino / Hispanic people / Hispanics / History, 19th Century / History, 20th Century / Humans / Immigrant adaptation / Immigrants / Immigration / Intergenerational relations / Intergenerational Relations - ethnology / Labor market / Latin American cultural groups / Medicine/Public Health / Mexican American education / Mexico - ethnology / Middle Aged / Noncitizens / Population Economics / Population growth / Research methodology / Simulation / Social assimilation / Social generations / Social life & customs / Social mobility / Social Sciences / Society / Socioeconomic factors / Sociology / Studies / Trends / U.S.A / United States / Upward mobility / White people / Women / Young Adult