Fertility and Family Dynamics among Refugee Women and Men from Eritrea and Syria in Germany

Elisabeth K. Kraus , Federal Institute for Population Research
Nadja Milewski, Federal Institut for Population Research, Wiesbaden

This study investigates family dynamics among forced migrants from Eritrea and Syria to Germany. We analyse the partnership and childbearing patterns of women and men. We pursue the following research questions: 1) What are the union formation and fertility behaviours of refugees in the years before and after migration? 2) How are family events and forced migration trajectories interrelated? 3) Which demographic, socio-economic and migration-related factors are associated with diverse family dynamics of refugees? Our empirical analyses draw on data derived from the quantitative survey "Forced Migration and Transnational Family Arrangements - Eritrean and Syrian Refugees in Germany" (TransFAR) collected in 2020. This survey covers 1,450 respondents and is Germany-wide representative of recent refugees from two major countries of origin of forced migration to Germany. Our analytical strategy is threefold: First, we describe the patterns and prevalence of marriage and childbearing at time of arrival to Germany as well as at time of the survey. Second, sequence analysis techniques are performed, accounting for marriage and fertility trajectories from 5 years before arrival to Germany to 5 years after arrival. Third, the associations between marriage-fertility trajectories and individual demographic, socio-economic and migration-specific factors as well as contextual characteristics are estimated. First preliminary results show that an important share of married individuals experiences a birth in the first years upon arrival in Germany, indicating that the partnership status at arrival is crucial for fertility outcomes at destination. Furthermore, we find considerable differences between genders.

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 Presented in Session 60. Fertility and Migration