MPIDR Working Paper

Fertility of Turkish migrants in Germany: duration of stay matters

Wolf, K.
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2014-001, 42 pages.
Rostock, Max-Planck-Institut für demografische Forschung (Januar 2014)
Open Access

Abstract

This study examines the fertility behavior of male and female Turkish migrants in Germany. Our main objective in this paper is to investigate the role of duration since migration in first and higher order birth risks. We use data from the 2nd wave of the German Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) that was conducted in 2005/06. In a first step, the age-specific fertility rates and the total fertility rates are estimated and compared for the German and the Turkish respondents following a method suggested by Toulemon (2004). Second, discrete-time hazard rate models are calculated. We find strongly elevated birth risks among the Turkish respondents in the years immediately following migration. This effect is found to be stronger for the females than for the males. The role of age at migration is also investigated. We find here that migrants who were older than age 30 at migration had significantly lower birth rates than other migrants, particularly those who migrated in young adulthood. We conclude that the fertility of Turkish migrants in Germany is strongly associated with their migration history. It is therefore important to take into account both the age at migration and the duration of stay when studying migrant fertility.
Schlagwörter: migrants
Das Max-Planck-Institut für demografische Forschung (MPIDR) in Rostock ist eines der international führenden Zentren für Bevölkerungswissenschaft. Es gehört zur Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, einer der weltweit renommiertesten Forschungsgemeinschaften.