Ben Wilson

Fertility Patterns of Child Migrants Age at Migration and Ancestry in Comparative Perspective

This article examines the fertility of women who migrated as children to one of three OECD countries—Canada, the United Kingdom, and France—and how it differs from that of native-born women, by age at migration. By looking at child migrants whose fertility behavior is neither interrupted by the migration event nor confounded by selection, the authors obtain a unique perspective on the adaptation process as a mechanism that explains variation in observed foreign and native-born fertility differentials. The authors find patterns that are broadly consistent with the adaptation hypothesis—which posits that as migrants become accustomed to their host countries, their fertility norms begin to resemble those of the native population—and, on average, limited cross-national variation in fertility differentials. The effect of exposure to the host country, however, seems to vary by country of origin, a finding that underscores the importance of taking into account the heterogeneity of the foreign-born population.

Fertility and partnership status in the last two decades

The family context in which babies are born is of continuing interest to policy makers. This article begins by reviewing trends in births within and outside marriage in England and Wales in the last two decades. It then examines the driving factors behind the ongoing rise in the proportion of births outside marriage, with particular focus on the proportion of married women of childbearing age, and changes in marital and non‐marital fertility rates.Given the variety of modern living arrangements into which children are born, the emphasis of the article then shifts to non‐marital births within cohabiting partnerships. For the first time estimates of fertility for cohabiting women of different ages are presented. These are based on information collected at birth registration and survey estimates of the cohabiting population. Fertility rates for cohabiting women are then compared with those of married women and other (non‐married, non‐cohabiting) women.Although there are limitations to the methodology, the article shows that over the past two decades, cohabiting women in England and Wales have had an overall level of fertility below that of married women but considerably above that of other unmarried women.

The Intergenerational Assimilation of Completed Fertility: Comparing the Convergence of Different Origin Groups

Recent studies have highlighted the need for new research on intergenerational assimilation and how it varies for different origin groups. This article responds by studying the intergenerational assimilation of completed fertility in the United Kingdom. The results provide evidence of assimilation for some origins, in particular for women from Ireland and Jamaica. Yet results also show evidence against assimilation for second-generation Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. The ability of the method used to distinguish between origin groups highlights the importance of a robust statistical approach that takes account of heterogeneity, an approach that can also be used to study outcomes other than fertility.

A Universal Health Care System? Unmet Need for Medical Care Among Regular and Irregular Immigrants in Italy

Italy has a universal health care system that covers, in principle, the whole resident population, irrespective of citizenship and legal status. This study calculates the prevalence of unmet need for medical care among Italian citizens, regular and irregular immigrants and estimates logistic regression models to assess whether differences by citizenship and legal status hold true once adjusting for potential confounders. The analysis is based on two Surveys on Income and Living Conditions of Italian households and households with foreigners. Controlling for various factors, the odds of experiencing unmet need for medical care are 27% higher for regular immigrants than for Italian citizens and 59% higher for irregular immigrants. The gaps by citizenship and legal status are even more striking among those with chronic illnesses. These results reveal the high vulnerability of immigrants in Italy and the need to develop more effective policies to achieve health care access for all residents.

Democracy and the demographic transition

ABSTRACT This article addresses the role of demographic factors in contributing to the emergence of democracy. It maintains that, other things being equal, progress in the demographic transition promotes democratization. The argument is developed with reference to the effects of interrelated changes in mortality, natural increase (i.e. population growth), fertility, and population age structure. Suggestions are also made with respect to how demographic and democratic trends should be gauged. An analysis of data for the period 1970–2005 for 77 countries that were initially non-democratic provides substantial support for the argument. Some implications are discussed, as are future trends in democratization from a demographer’s perspective.

Children with a non‐resident parent

This article presents the findings of an Office for National Statistics (ONS) Opinions survey on children with a non‐resident parent, carried out in 2008/09. It creates estimates of the number of children who have a non‐resident parent, and compares these with ONS Labour Force Survey data. Other results explore the direct contact arrangements between children and their non‐resident parent, and the partnership status of resident and non‐resident parents, all of which are compared with previous studies.Results from the Opinions survey suggest that there were 3.3 million dependent children in Great Britain who had a non‐resident birth parent at the end of 2008. Like many household surveys, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) cannot provide an equivalent figure because it does not collect information on birth parents living in different households from their children. However, as a proxy for children with non‐resident parents, LFS can be used to estimate children living with one birth parent (children living with one widowed birth parent are excluded because they are assumed not to have a non‐resident parent). Accordingly, the LFS shows that the number of dependent children in Great Britain living with one non‐widowed birth parent rose from 3.2 million in 1999 to 3.8 million in 2009. The proportion of dependent children living with one non‐widowed birth parent also increased from 27 per cent to 30 per cent.