SRRD_2019_17.pdf (1.54 MB)
Natives and Migrants’ Childbearing during the Great Recession. A Comparison between Italy and Sweden
preprint
posted on 2019-05-23, 16:29 authored by Giammarco Alderotti, Eleonora MussinoEleonora Mussino, Chiara ComolliChiara ComolliAbstract: This study contributes to the empirical research on the
fertility decline registered in many European countries in the aftermath of the
Great Recession adopting a comparative perspective. More specifically, the paper
explores childbearing behavior during the crisis across three dimensions of socioeconomic
vulnerability: migration background, labor market uncertainty and country
context. We compare childbearing behavior among native and migrant women with
different recent occupational histories in two countries: Sweden and Italy.
Using the most recent available data, respectively the Swedish population
registers and the Italian Labor Force Survey, we investigate the change in the probability of
having a(nother) child between the pre-crisis (2007-09) and the crisis period
(2010-12). Results suggest that, during the initial phase of the Great
Recession, the probability of having a child decreases for migrants with
unstable careers or low skilled occupations more than for natives. However, relevant
differences between the two countries in the latter associations emerge.