Shaping the Life Course: The Interaction between Partnerships, Family Building and Employment among Migrants and Their Descendants in the UK

Sarah Christison , University of St Andrews
Julia Mikolai, University of St Andrews
Hill Kulu, University of St Andrews

This study examines the interaction between the three life domains of partnerships, family building, and employment among migrants and their descendants in the UK. The UK has a long history of migration resulting in a diverse mix of migrants and their descendants from a range cultural backgrounds. While previous studies have sought to examine the life course trajectories of migrant groups, these tend to focus on a single life domain. In this study, we bring together the three interconnected domains of union formation, fertility, and employment comparing differences in trajectories between natives, migrants, and their descendants Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we use multilevel, multistate and multi-process event history models to explore life course trajectories of UK natives, immigrants, and their descendants in the domains of fertility, partnership and employment. We model men and women separately to explore gender differences in how these trajectories are interrelated among immigrants and their descendants from different countries. We expect that some migrant groups such as those from South Asia will exhibit more conservative partnership and fertility trajectories compared to natives and European/Western migrants, and that these differences will persist for 2G individuals to some extent. We also anticipate that our analysis will reveal differences in the labour market participation between natives and migrants, particularly for women with children from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds. When examining trajectories by gender, we also expect that these three life domains be more closely related among women than men, especially for some groups.

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 Presented in Session 101. Migrant Populations and Fertility