Ann Glusker

Glusker's examination of fertility patterns of immigrant and U.S.-born women reveals that race and ethnicity play a stronger role than socio-economic and immigrant/non-immigrant status.

Glusker considers how and why fertility patterns change with immigration. In so doing she considers not only immigrants, but also US minority groups. Using Current Population Survey data Glusker addresses the complex of factors: duration of stay, generational status, nativity, and race/ethnicity. She finds that race and ethnicity affect the fertility of native-born women, independent of their socioeconomic status. This is not the case for foreign-born women. Race and ethnicity may be the central concerns as we consider future immigrant assimilation. The issue is not the fertility of immigrants per se, but of the US minorities that certain immigrant groups will join.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Enduring Issue of Immigration
1. "Becoming American": Theoretical Challenges
2. The Centrality of Nativity, Ethnicity, Duration, and Generation
3. The Emerging Question: Convergence to which Norm?
4. Differing Determinants and Patterns of Fertility in a Diverse Population
5. Processes of Family Building: "The Third Child"
6. Initiation of Family Building: Timing of First Births
7. Conclusion: The Salience of Race/Ethnicity and of Family
   
Appendices
References
Index