The effect of income on fertility among Canadian women

Abstract

This study compares the fertility of three generations of immigrant women in Canada and examines whether the same set of predictors accounts for differential fertility among the three groups. The analysis of current family size of the three generations and the two age groups, 18–34 and 35–49, of currently married or cohabiting women reveals considerable variation in the effects of sociodemographic and economic variables on fertility. These variations suggest that education and religiosity are more related to the fertility of the first-generation women, religiosity is more related to the fertility of the second-generation women, and religious preference, religiosity, and expected income are more related to the fertility of the third-generation women. Whereas expected income exerts consistently significant effects on the fertility of all the three generations of younger cohorts, relative income affects the fertility only of first-generation women of younger cohorts.