Migration from Latin American countries to the United States: the economic,social and reproductive lives of Hispanic female immigrants, 1980

The authors describe the socioeconomic characteristics and fertility patterns of female immigrants from Latin America to the United States, with a focus on reasons for fertility differentials. "Using the one per cent public use sample from the 1970 and 1980 United States census, we first compare changes in socio economic characteristics from 1970 to 1980, and then examine the determinants of fertility of female immigrants to the United States, aged 16-49, from four Latin American areas or countries of birth.... The findings...suggest that there are direct effects of demographic, assimilation, and socioeconomic variables beyond those mediated by the variables in each of these sets. Further, regardless of the model, the effect of the clusters of demographic characteristics is most apparent. Age categories and marital status are the strongest indexed determinants of immigrant fertility.... The effect of education and employment is strong. Among assimilation variables, duration of residence and language ability are significant determinants of Hispanic immigrant fertility." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Son survivorship motivation and family size in India: A computer simulation

Abstract Many sociologists and demographers have argued that the comparatively large families of six to eight children found in rural India to-day result from ignorance of family planning methods, from tradition, and from passive indecision; and that large reductions in the Indian growth rate to Western levels would occur spontaneously if each Indian family were given access to birth control facilities, materials and information. On the other hand, it has been maintained that large family sizes are functional for rural families in India and other developing countries; and that they result from conscious or unconscious choice based upon enlightened self-interest.     

What is the annual net flow of undocumented mexican immigrants to the united states?

Senior government officials have claimed that in recent years an average of 1.4 million illegal aliens have entered the United States annually without apprehension. This conjectural figure does not take into account the fact that the net flow of immigrants is always less than the gross flow. In this paper, seven estimates are made concerning the net flow of undocumented Mexican immigrants to the United States in the period 1970--1975. These estimates are based on the growth of the population of Mexican origin according to the Current Population Survey. According to these estimates the annual net flow ranged from 82,300 to 232,400 persons.     

Comparison of two methods for estimating the number of undocumented Mexican adults in Los Angeles County

This article compares 2 different methods for estimating the number of undocumented Mexican adults in Los Angeles County. The 1st method, the survey-based method, uses a combination of 1980 census data and the results of a survey conducted in Los Angeles County in 1980 and 1981. A sample was selected from babies born in Los Angeles County who had a mother or father of Mexican origin. The survey included questions about the legal status of the baby's parents and certain other relatives. The resulting estimates of undocumented Mexican immigrants are for males aged 18-44 and females aged 18-39. The 2nd method, the residual method, involves comparison of census figures for aliens counted with estimates of legally-resident aliens developed principally with data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). For this study, estimates by age, sex, and period of entry were produced for persons born in Mexico and living in Los Angeles County. The results of this research indicate that it is possible to measure undocumented immigration with different techniques, yet obtain results that are similar. Both techniques presented here are limited in that they represent estimates of undocumented aliens based on the 1980 census. The number of additional undocumented aliens not counted remains a subject of conjecture. The fact that the proportions undocumented shown in the survey (228,700) are quite similar to the residual estimates (317,800) suggests that the number of undocumented aliens not counted in the census may not be an extremely large fraction of the undocumented population. The survey-based estimates have some significant advantages over the residual estimates. The survey provides tabulations of the undocumented population by characteristics other than the limited demographic information provided by the residual technique. On the other hand, the survey-based estimates require that a survey be conducted and, if national or regional estimates are called for, they may require a number of surveys. The residual technique, however, also requires a data source other than the census. However, the INS discontinued the annual registration of aliens after 1981. Thus, estimates of undocumented aliens based on the residual technique will probably not be possible for subnational areas using the 1990 census unless the registration program is reinstituted. Perhaps the best information on the undocumented population in the 1990 census will come from an improved version of the survey-based technique described here applied in selected local areas.     

Variations in Fertility and Earning Patterns among Immigrants in the United States, 1970–1980: Assimilation or Disruption?*

"This paper examines the assimilation of immigrants in familial and economic fields.... Specific objectives are as follows: (1) to describe fertility and earning patterns among immigrants to the United States in 1970-1980, from several countries of origin, and (2) to describe some effects of assimilation, human capital, and the dual labor market perspectives on immigrant earnings." Findings vary in both fertility and economic categories for migrants depending on whether they are from developed or developing countries. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Female status among soviet central Asian nationalities: The melding of Islam and Marxism and its implications for population increase

Summary Marxist ideology has emphasized the rights of women to a degree perhaps unparalleled among political movements, whereas Islamic ideology has confined women to the traditional role of wife and mother. In Soviet Central Asia these two ideologies have clashed for more than 50 years. Data from the 1959 and 1970 censuses of the U.S.S.R. are used to show three aspects of the position of Soviet women of Islamic nationality as compared with the position of Soviet women of non-Islamic nationality, namely, educational attainment relative to men, non-agricultural labour force participation relative to men, and the burden of child dependency. The hypothesis is put forward that the status of women among Soviet Islamic nationalities should be lower than among Soviet non-Islamic nationalities, but that the difference between the two groups in the various aspects of female status should diminish over time. The position of women among the Soviet Islamic nationalities was also compared with that of women in various Islamic nations with the hypothesis that female status should be higher among the former than the latter. The predictions were upheld, with the notable exception of two of the three pedictions concerning the burden of child dependency occasioned by the finding that child dependency increased substantially, from 1959 to 1970 for Islamic nationalities but not for non-Islamic, and by 1970 was higher for Soviet Islamic nationalities than for the Islamic nations of the Middle East and North Africa. Several possible explanations are advanced for the above-mentioned unpredicted findings.     

Mortality level,desired family size and population increase: Further variations on a basic model

A series of computer-simulation models relating mortality level to fertility behavior and to rates of natural increase assuming that couples made use of a perfect means of birth control, that they wanted to be highly certain of having at least one son survive to the father’s 65th birthday, and that all women were biologically capable of having the same number of children were reported earlier. A model identical to one presented earlier but assuming women to be of variable fecundity is presented here; the results are quite similar. Also, the results of models assuming that parents want to be highly certain of at least two surviving children regardless of sex are compared with models assuming parental desire to be highly certain of at least one surviving son. At high levels of mortality the rates of natural increase are quite similar. When mortality is at intermediate to medium-low levels, the two-surviving-children model shows a lower rate of natural increase than the surviving-son model. At very low levels of mortality, such as now experienced by the most advanced nations, the two-surviving-children model manifests a higher rate of natural increase than the surviving-son model.