Ideal ages for family formation among immigrants in Europe

Abstract

This paper investigates ideal ages for marriage and parenthood among immigrants from over 160 countries origins living in 25 European countries. Ideals regarding the timing of family formation are indicative of how individuals perceive the family life course and provide insight into familylife aspirations and the meaning attached to these transitions. Using data from the European Social Survey (Round 3, 2006; N = 6,330) and a cross-classified multilevel modeling approach, we investigate associations between the influences of the dominant family formation timing patterns in countries of origin and settlement, individual-level characteristics, and ideal ages. We make innovative use of a standard demographic measure, the singulate mean age of marriage, to measure family formation patterns. Results suggests that residential context influences are associated with the timing ideals of all migrants, but origin influences seem to be associated with the ideals of only the most recent migrants.Key words: family formation, ideals, immigrants, second generation, family change, Europe Page 3 of 42The timing and sequencing of events is central to the development and trajectory of life courses (Billari, 2005). Life course researchers have stressed the importance of context and time in shaping both the experience and perception of events in the life course (Elder Jr., 1985). Also in studies of immigrants, emphasis is placed on the contextual (socialization) effects of country of origin and settlement when it comes to life course transitions and preferences (De Valk, Wingens, Windzio, & Aybek, 2011). Timing preferences for family life transitions are likely determined by individual characteristics and experiences, but also influenced by dominant, macro-level family formation systems. However, comparative studies of the timing of family life events among those of immigrant origin are still largely lacking and existing work on timing preferences mainly focuses on one country or one migrant origin group (e.g. De Giuliano, 2007). But with information on diverse migrant populations across a range of countries of settlement, we can shed light on the influences of family formation systems in both origin and destination that may shape timing preferences for family life transitions. In this paper we fill this gap in the literature and explore family formation ideals regarding the timing of marriage and childbearing among immigrants of diverse origins across Europe.Forming a partnership, getting married, and bearing and raising children are significant transitions for individuals. Ideals regarding the timing of these events may be indicative of the meaning attached to these transitions and how they should best fit into the life course. Moreover, in the case of migrants, ideals may be a particularly useful measure of attitudes toward the family life course since the timing of actual family behaviors is often distorted by the act of migration (e.g. Andersson, 2004;Milewski, 2007;Toulemon, 2004). The perceived ideal timing of family ...

Persisting Differences or Adaptation to German Fertility Patterns? First and Second Birth Behavior of the 1.5 and Second Generation Turkish Migrants in Germany

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Differences in labour force participation by motherhood status among second-generation Turkish and majority women across Europe

“…The experience of second-generation Turkish women in Europe may differ from Second-generation Turkish mothers' work 3 that of their majority-group peers, in that their experience of motherhood and its implications for employment while children are young intersect with their position in the socio-cultural middle ground between their parents' country of origin and their own country of birth (Foner 1997;Choo and Ferree 2010;Holland and De Valk 2013).…”

“…To the extent that gendered norms and values of the first generation persist and influence the values and behaviour of the second generation, we may expect that, on average, the children of Turkish immigrants will hold different preferences from the majority group about the timing of family formation (Holland and De Valk 2013) and different expectations regarding the division of paid and unpaid work and filial responsibilities (Foner 1997;Idema and Phalet 2007). Second-generation Turkish women are more likely to enter a (married) union and have their first child at younger ages than their majority-background counterparts (Huschek et al 2010;Milewski and Hamel 2010).…”

“…This unique, comparative survey was designed to investigate the lives of the young adult children of immigrants relative to their majority-group peers. Comparing women of the same migrant origin group who are living in different European contexts allows for a deeper understanding of the roles of both parental origin and country of birth in shaping the life courses of the children of immigrants (Holland and De Valk 2013). This may point to more and less favourable settings for combining work and family for women of immigrant origin.…”

Childbearing patterns among immigrant women and their daughters in Spain: Over-adaptation or structural constraints

“…The second generation is born and raised in the host country, but within an immigrant family, which plays an important role in the intergenerational transmission of cultural values (Milewski 2011). Members of the 1.5 generation occupy a "socio-cultural middle ground" (Holland and de Valk 2013) between their countries of origin and destination, and we can presume that their family formation norms and behaviour are shaped by both societal contexts. Previous studies in different contexts, such as Germany (Milewski 2007(Milewski , 2010, Sweden (Scott and Stanfors 2011), the Netherlands (Garssen and Nicholaas 2008), and the United Kingdom (Dubuc 2012), have documented a convergence tendency in the fertility behaviour of immigrant children toward that of natives.…”