Childbearing behaviour among women with migrant family backgrounds in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This thesis examines the childbearing behaviour of women with migrant family backgrounds in the United Kingdom. It aims to demonstrate how and why their fertility patterns differ from those of women from non-migrant family backgrounds, and how these trends have changed over time. The United Kingdom has experienced simultaneous population shifts in recent times, with declining fertility rates and increased immigration flows. Yet, there remains a lack of understanding of the fertility behaviours of child migrants and the descendants of immigrants, as well as the reasons underlying the fertility differences among them. This thesis fills this gap by examining fertility by parity among women with migrant family backgrounds, particularly those who spent at least part of their formative years in the United Kingdom before transitioning to adulthood – including child migrants and those born in the United Kingdom to at least one foreign-born parent.

An event-history approach is applied, incorporating both single- and multi-process models, using longitudinal survey data and register-based data. The results show evident fertility variations among women of different origins and a partial convergence of fertility at first birth across some migrant generations toward that of British natives. The thesis further finds that socio-cultural backgrounds shape childbearing behaviour differently based on parity, migrant-origin background, and generation. These findings advance our understanding of fertility behaviours within minority populations by underlying variations across migrant generations and origins, thereby reducing the tendency to base knowledge of fertility behaviour solely on the majority population. These insights contribute to a deeper appreciation of the intersectional nature of childbearing and provide evidence to support the development of more inclusive family policies.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Hill Kulu (Supervisor), Sarah Christison (Supervisor) & Francesca Fiori (Supervisor)