Abstract
This paper studies ethnic differences in the fertility of the descendants of migrants in a highly polyethnic region of Russia, Dagestan (North Caucasus). That region gives a rather rare example of an urban population whose majority is formed by migrants and their second- and third-generation descendants of several ethnicities which differ in fertility in their rural places of origin. We take the opportunity to consider the key hypotheses on the fertility of the descendants of migrants in this rather non-standard setting. The central question we address is whether the ethnic differences in fertility observed among rural residents are also passed on to descendants of rural-to-urban migrants. Another question concerns the role of education in preserving vs. weakening ethnic differences in fertility between descendants of migrants. We analyze the Russian population census 2010 data on the region under study, running Poisson models for the total number of children and logistic models for progressions to different parities. Our main conclusion is that ethnic differences in fertility remain significant among descendants of rural-to-urban migrants. Arguably, this supports the socialization hypothesis, because contacts between co-ethnics are intensive in the region and interethnic marriages are rather infrequent, which helps young urban people to adopt patterns of reproductive behavior typical for their ethnicity. Among highly educated women, however, the ethnic differences in fertility are weaker, which might be related to the ease in the departure of such women from fertility trajectories of their co-ethnics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Addai, I., & Trovato, F. (1999). Structural assimilation and ethnic fertility in Ghana. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 30(3), 409–427.
Adebowale, A. S. (2019). Ethnic disparities in fertility and its determinants in Nigeria. Fertility research and practice, 5(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40738-019-0055-y.
Andersson, G. (2004). Childbearing after migration: Fertility patterns of foreign-born women in Sweden. International Migration Review, 38(2), 747–774. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00216.x.
Andreev, E. I. (2012). On accuracy of Russian population censuses and reliability of different information sources. Voprosy statistiki, 11, 21–35 (in Russian).
Becker, G. S. (1981) (Revised and Enlarged 1991)). A Treatise on the family. Harvard University Press.
Belozerov, V. S. (2005). The ethnic map of North Caucasus (in Russian). O.G.I. (In Russ.).
Dobrushina, N. R. (2008). Language and ethnicity of a minor nation: To be or not to be. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya [Sociological studies], 11, 77–83 (In Russ.).
Dobrushina, N., Kozhukhar, A., & Moroz, G. (2018). Gendered multilingualism in highland Dagestan: Story of a loss. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1493113.
Dubuc, S. (2017). Fertility and education among British Asian women: A success story of social mobility? Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 15, 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2017s269.
Eldarov, E. M., Holland, E. C., Abdulagatov, Z. M., Aliev, S. M., & Ataev, Z. V. (2007). Resettlement and migration in post-Soviet Dagestan. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 48(2), 226–248 [URL: https://www.colorado.edu/.../EGE_2007_MigrationDagestan_s6.pdf; Date of last retrieval 29/03/2018].
Gore, D. L., & Carlson, E. (2010). Ethnicity, education, and the non-proportional hazard of first marriage in Turkey. Population Studies, 64(2), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324721003640042.
Greulich, A., Dasre, A., & Inan, C. (2016). Two or three children: Turkish fertility at a crossroads. Population and Development Review, 43(3), 537–559.
Gruber, S., & Szołtysek, M. (2012). Quantifying patriarchy: An explorative comparison of two joint family societies. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Working Paper 2012-017 [URL: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2012-017.pdf; Date of last retrieval: 04/05/2018].
Karpov, Y., & Kapustina, E. (2011). Highlanders in the lowlands. Migrations in Dagestan in the 20th and the early 21th centuries, their social, ethnic and cultural consequences and prospects. Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie (in Russ.).
Kazenin, K. (2012). “Elements of the Caucasus”: Land, power and ideology in the republics of the North Caucasus. REGNUM (in Russ.).
Kazenin, K. (2019). Migration from the mountains to the valley in the North Caucasus: The challenges of diversity. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 17(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.17323/727-0634-2019-17-1-23-38 (in Russ.).
Kazenin, K. (2021). North Caucasus: Regions and their demography. In M. Polinsky (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Languages of the Caucasus. Oxford UP.
Kazenin, K., & Kozlov, V. (2017). The special characteristics of marriage and fertility in the Republic of Dagestan: Their reasons and socio-economic consequences. Journal of Institute of Economy RAN, 11(2), 65–81 (in Russ.).
Kulu, H. (2005). Migration and fertility: Competing hypotheses re-examined. European Journal of Population, 21(1), 51–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-005-3581-8.
Kulu, H., & Hannemann, T. (2016). Why does fertility remain high among certain UK-born ethnic minority women? Demographic Research, 35, 1441–1488. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.49.Kre.
Kulu, H., Hannemann, T., Pailhé, A., Neels, K., Rahnu, L., Puur, A., Krapf, S., González-Ferrer, A., Castro-Martin, T., Kraus, E., Bernardi, L., Guarin, A., Andersson, G., & Persson, L. (2015). A comparative study of fertility among descendants of migrants in Europe. Families and Societies Working Papers Series, 40.
Kulu, H., Milewski, N., Hannemann, T., & Mikolai, J. (2019). A decade of life-course research on fertility of immigrants and their descendants in Europe. Demographic Research, 40, 1345–1374. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2019.40.46.
Lerch, M. (2013). Patriarchy and fertility in Albania. Demographic Research, 29, 133–166. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2013.29.6.
Lindstrom, D. P. (2003). Rural-urban migration and reproductive behavior in Guatemala. Population Research and Policy Review, 22(4), 351–372. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027336615298.
Mason, K. O. (2001). Gender and family systems in the fertility transition. Population and Development Review, 27, 160–176.
Milewski, N. (2007). First child of immigrant workers and their descendants in West Germany: Interrelation of events, disruption, or adaptation? Demographic Research, 17(29), 859–896. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2007.17.29.
Milewski, N. (2010). Immigrant fertility in West Germany: Is there a socialization effect in transitions to second and third births? European Journal of Population, 26(3), 297–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-010-9211-0.
Milewski, N. (2011). Transition to a first birth among Turkish second-generation migrants in Western Europe. Advances in Life Course Research, 16(4), 178–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2011.09.002.
Mkrtchyan, N. (2019). Migration in the North Caucasus and the accuracy of statistics. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 17(1), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.17323/727-0634-2019-17-1-7-22 (in Russ.).
Nedoluzhko, L. (2012). Achieved fertility and fertility intentions among ethnic groups of Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan compared. Stockholm Research Reports in Demography, 2012, 4.
Nedoluzhko, L., & Andersson, G. (2007). Migration and first-time parenthood: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan. Demographic Research, 17, 741–774. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2007.17.25.
Parrado, E. A. (2011). How high is Hispanic/Mexican fertility in the United States? Immigration and tempo considerations. Demography, 48(3), 1059–1080. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-011-0045-0.
Salway, S. M. (2007). Economic activity among UK Bangladeshi and Pakistani women in the 1990s: Evidence for continuity or change in the family resources survey. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(5), 825–847. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830701359256.
Ware, R. B., Kisriev, E., Patzelt, W. J., & Roericht, U. (2003). Stability in the Caucasus: The perspective from Dagestan. Problems of Post-Communism, 50(2), 12–23.
Yavuz, S. (2004). Completing the fertility transition: Third birth developments by language groups in Turkey. Demographic Research, 15, 435–460. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2006.15.15.
Acknowledgements
The article is based on research conducted under government contract with Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The study has been funded within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
Progression to a 3rd child, by ethnicities at different ages at Census 2010 (all women aged 30+ of the ethnicities included in the study). Source: Russian Census 2010
Progression to a 4th child, by ethnicities at different ages at Census 2010 (all women aged 30+ of the ethnicities included in the study). Source: Russian Census 2010
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kazenin, K., Kozlov, V. Ethnicity and fertility of descendants of rural-to-urban migrants: the case of Daghestan (North Caucasus). Int. Migration & Integration 24 (Suppl 1), 69–93 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-021-00848-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-021-00848-8