The Association Between Reason for Migration and Fertility in Sweden

Erik Carlsson , Stockholm University Demography Unit

This study examines the association between immigrants’ reason for migration and fertility, using Swedish population register data. Earlier research has shown that labor market migrants tend to have lower fertility than both labor market migrants and family migrants. However, since an immigrant’s reason for migration and geographical origin often correlate strongly, it may be difficult to rule out that an observed relationship between reason for migration cannot in fact be explained by the immigrant’s geographical origin. This potential source of confounding can be avoided by using population register data, since the large number of observation units means that the relationship between reason for migration and fertility can be examined separately for different geographical origin groups. Preliminary results show that labor market migrants tend to have fewer children than family migrants, both at immigration and 5 years after immigration to Sweden. This pattern holds across four origin groups (Iran, other Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia) and across ages at immigration. Among immigrants from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, it was possible to analyze how refugees differ from other reason-for-migration categories. First, refugees tend to have more children than labor market migrants. Second, family migrants tend to have fewer children at immigration than refugees but tend to recuperate some or all of this fertility disadvantage during the first five years in Sweden. These preliminary results largely confirm patterns observed in earlier research but offer more robust evidence given the stronger research design made possible by population register data.

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 Presented in Session 101. Migrant Populations and Fertility