Division Socioeconomic Statistics

Up to now fertility studies of migrant women in the Netherlands were mainly based on period figures. The period fertility of most migrant groups has declined over the last decade towards the fertility of native women. Since the level of the period total fertility rate is affected by changes in the age at childbearing, a comparison of period total fertility rates of migrant women with that of native women is influenced by differences in the timing of fertility between migrant and native women. An unbiased comparison of levels of fertility requires cohort data. This paper presents an analysis of data on cohort fertility of women in the Netherlands who are born abroad. Longitudinal data of fertility of these women are obtained from the Dutch ‘Gemeentelijke Basisadministratie ’ (the municipal basic registration of population data). The analysis focuses on women born in Turkey