Search Results

Chapter 1 looks at cohort and generation differences in levels and predictors of early fertility and sex among first, second, and third-plus generation young adults in the U.S. during the late 1970s and 1990s. The analyses seek to determine (1) how this behavior has changed by generation and arrival cohort and (2) what family and community factors predict these outcomes for immigrants. The study finds that first-generation immigrant youth exhibit the lowest levels of early fertility and sex, negatively assimilating by the third-plus generation. The findings suggest a positive association between arrival cohort early sex only. Further, the research fails to uncover significant predictors of these outcomes among first and second generation immigrants although the measures used have long been associated with them in the general population--suggesting that protective effects of generation reflect unmeasured cultural and social mechanisms.

Chapter 2 examines whether welfare policy changes occurring in the 1990s altered fertility outcomes for low-educated and unmarried foreign-born women. The study also looks at whether welfare reform had unintended consequences on immigrant women, like reducing prenatal care or decreasing the fertility of welfare-eligible or non-welfare dependent women through "chilling effects." The results show no consistent evidence that welfare policy changed fertility behavior among any immigrant group and raises doubt concerning the usefulness of targeting women's childbearing decisions with economic incentives.