Migration is an important social process with far reaching implications for fertility and family change. As such, considerable literature explores whether migrant’s fertility assimilates to the norms of women in destination contexts.  Nonetheless, most research investigating the relationship between international migration and fertility outcomes compares the reproductive outcomes of migrants to those of native-born women in receiving countries. Drawing on literature on the importance of a transnational perspective, we standardize and integrate data from two different sources—one collected in France (the receiving country in our study)—and one collected in African and Asian countries (the senders).  Our analyses illustrate how estimated associations between migration and fertility and reproductive health outcomes differ when comparing migrant women to non-migrant women in receiving versus sending countries, which provides a fuller understanding of processes surrounding migration and assimilation to fertility and family norms in destination-contexts.  We also discuss and analyze the role of selection into migration and provide insight into the mechanisms underlying fertility change among migrant populations.

Julia Behrman is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, whose research investigates the causes and consequences of family change in a global perspective.