8 - Fertility and Migration: The Case of Puerto Rico

Abstract

The effect of migration on fertility is primarily of interest when the areas of origin and destination differ with respect to reproductive norms and behavior. Typically the area of origin is one of high fertility and the area of destination is one of low fertility. It is expected that migration itself and exposure to the milieu of low fertility will bring about lower fertility among migrants than among their non-migrant contemporaries at place of origin. It is also expected that because of socialization in an area of high reproductive norms and behavior migrants will have higher fertility than their non-migrant contemporaries at place of destination. Of these two propositions the latter has received the bulk of the research attention--for reasons of data availability. Since censuses and surveys are geographically bounded it is quite common to have migrants and comparable non-migrants at place of destination included in the same census or survey. However migrants and comparable non- migrants at place of origin are not included in the same census or survey unless the distances involved are relatively small. This paper compares the fertility of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States with the fertility of their non-migrant counterparts who remained in Puerto Rico. As such this paper examines the effect of the migration itself and the subsequent exposure to a low fertility milieu on fertility rather than contrasting differential fertility socializations. To do so we have combined the 1-in-a-100 Public Use Sample of the 1970 Census for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with the records of all United States resident Puerto Ricans from the 1-in-a-100 Public Use Sample for the United States Census of 1970. (excerpt)