Actual and ideal fertility differential among natives, immigrants, and descendants of immigrants in a northeastern state of India

Abstract

Little research has been conducted on the native-immigrant fertility differential in low-income settings. The objective of our paper is to examine the actual and ideal fertility differential of native and immigrant families in Assam. We used the data from a primary quantitative survey carried out in 52 villages in five districts of Assam during 2014–2015. We performed bivariate analysis and used a multilevel mixed-effects linear regression model to analyse the actual and ideal fertility differential by type of village. The average number of children ever-born is the lowest in native villages in contrast to the highest average number of children ever-born in immigrant villages. The likelihood of having more children is also the highest among women in immigrant villages. However, the effect of religion surpasses the effect of the type of village the women reside in.