Interaction between childbearing and partnership changes among immigrants and their descendants: an application of multichannel sequence analysis to longitudinal data from France

This paper examines fertility and partnership dynamics of immigrants and their descendants over the life course. While there is a large literature investigating migrant marriage and fertility, little research has examined how childbearing and partnership dynamics are intertwined among migrant populations. This paper uses the technique of multichannel sequence analysis to examine simultaneously individuals’ fertility and partnership trajectories. Using rich longitudinal survey data from France, the results show important differences in family-related behaviour between immigrants, their descendants and French natives. There is considerable heterogeneity in family trajectories across migrant groups and birth cohorts. Immigrants born in the 1950s-60s, especially from North Africa and Turkey, are more likely than natives to experience an early and longstanding marriage with high fertility levels. Cohabitation has spread among cohorts born in the 1970s-80s; however, immigrants are less likely to cohabit prior to marriage than the native-born population. They are more likely to marry directly and have 2 to 3 children. The descendants of immigrants exhibit partnership and childbearing patterns similar to those of natives. However, there are still significant differences across population groups: the children of North African and Turkish immigrants are likely to have relatively large families. Overall, they exhibit more conservative family behaviour than other groups. The descendants of Southern Europeans are the closest to the natives in their family behaviour. Our results confirm the importance of the socialisation and the adaptation factors to explain family behaviour of immigrants and their descendants