Immigrant Generation and Early Childbearing in the United States

• In Event: 195 - Section on Sociology of Population Paper Session. Immigration, Nativity, and Family Dynamics

Abstract

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to investigate differences by immigrant generation in early childbearing. I explore to what extent generational variations reflect discrepancies in timing of sexual onset as opposed to fertility behavior post-onset, using an innovative sequential hazards model. I also examine contextual mechanisms at the family and neighborhood levels. I find that both first and second generation immigrant young women initiate childbearing later than their counterparts with US-born parents. Later initiation of sexual activity explains most of the delay in childbearing observed among the first generation; for the second generation, fertility control among the sexually experienced is also important. Family traits are implicated for the observed immigrant advantage in timing of sexual onset. However, neither family nor neighborhood attributes explain a great deal of the lower risk of fertility post-onset observed for the second generation.

Author

• Rachel E. Goldberg, University of California, Irvine