Childbirth Transitions Across Contexts: Comparing Risk of First Birth among Immigrant and Non-migrant Mexican Women

Kari White, University of Texas at Austin

Population statistics frequently draw attention to the fact that immigrant women have higher fertility relative to women of the majority population at destination, which researchers attribute to immigrants’ sociodemographic characteristics, cultural patterns of childbearing, and adaptation to the destination context. However these assessments often rely on fertility measures that may misrepresent immigrant fertility, as well as exclude non-migrants at origin as a frame of reference. This study seeks to address these limitations by examining the transition to first birth among Mexican non-migrants, Mexican immigrants to United States (US) and non-Hispanic white women in the US. Specifically, using Mexican and US data sources and an event history approach, I assess the association between immigrant generation, duration of residence, education, marital status, and contraceptive use on women’s transition to first birth. The influence of origin and destination contexts on the association between sociodemographic factors and first birth risk will be discussed.