Fertility Behavior and Preferences Among Immigrants and Children of Immigrants in Sweden

Similar to other Western European countries, immigrants and children of immigrants constitute growing segments of the Swedish population. Analyzing fertility patterns among immigrants and their children is important because (1) understanding potential heterogeneity in fertility preferences and behavior among population subgroups improves the understanding of fertility trends for the overall population, (2) fertility patterns can serve as an indicator of immigrants’ integration into the destination society, and (3) research can contribute with facts and nuanced perspectives to the emotionally charged political debate on immigrant and minority fertility. The dissertation consists of three studies that examine different aspects of immigrant fertility which have largely been overlooked in earlier research. Study I analyzes how the propensity to realize a short-term fertility intention varies between natives, immigrants, and children of immigrants in Sweden and Norway. Data come from the Swedish and Norwegian Generations and Gender Surveys from 2012/13 and 2007/08 together with their register-based follow-ups. Results show that second-generation women of non-Western origin are significantly less likely than native women to realize a positive fertility intention, whereas first-generation men of Western origin are significantly more likely than native men to realize a positive fertility intention. These results suggest either that the ability to realize childbearing preferences differ between population subgroups or that there are cultural differences in the meaning attached to a reported intention. Study II examines ethnic fertility differentials within the group of Yugoslavian-born immigrants to Sweden. The study uses Swedish population register data to compare transition rates to first, second, and third birth between native women, BCMS-speaking (Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian) Yugoslavian-born women, and Albanian-speaking Yugoslavian-born women. Results show that transition rates to first, second, and third birth are considerably higher among Albanian-speaking women than both BCMS-speaking women and native women. The transition rates of BCMS-speaking women are relatively close to those of native women. The study demonstrates how analyses of immigrant fertility can benefit from disaggregating national or regional origin groups by subnational ethnicity, since this may uncover considerable within-group heterogeneity. Study III explores how religious affiliation relates to the ideal number of children, short-term fertility intentions, and the achieved number of children at age 40 among immigrants and natives in Sweden. Data come from the two Swedish Generations and Gender Surveys from 2012/13 and 2021. Results show that ideal, intended, and achieved fertility vary considerably by geographical origin within religious affiliations. Within geographical origin groups, Christians and Muslims often have similar ideal, intended, and achieved fertility, whereas the ideal, intended, and achieved fertility among non-religious individuals tend to be lower than those of Christians and Muslims. Results indicate that earlier analyses of the association between religion and fertility among immigrants that do not take immigrants’ geographical origin into consideration can be misleading, since group differences that are best explained as origin effects may be attributed to influences from religion