Assessing the Importance of Assimilation for Chinese Immigrant Fertility in the United States

Lauren Newmyer , Pennsylvania State University

Although Chinese immigrants make up the second largest group of incoming migrants to the United States, their fertility patterns are still largely understudied. These immigrants come from a low-fertility context that may make their fertility patterns widely different than those of immigrants who come from high-fertility contexts. Using recent data from the American Community Survey (ACS), I investigate how fertility patterns vary in native- and foreign-born Chinese women and consider how measures of assimilation such as age of arrival and interracial marriages influence these trends. The fertility of native- and foreign-born Chinese women are not significantly different and is stable over time. Chinese women who are married to non-Asian partners have higher odds of giving birth than those who are married to another Asian.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe