Introduction

Abstract

Since the middle of the twentieth century, Western Europe has been faced with growing migration flows. Social research has focused on the first generation of international migrants, the interplay between international migration and the family dynamics of migrants, however, has not been fully understood. International migration is associated with a rapid change in the migrants’ environment. This change usually takes place within a much shorter time span than societies alter as a whole. Immigrants have to cope with these changes. Therefore, the study of the demographic behavior of migrants enables us to gain insights into the patterns and speed of the demographic responses of individuals or groups to sudden environmental alterations to which they are exposed (Coleman 1994). The life-course approach (e.g., Mulder 1993; Mulder and Wagner 1993) allows us to analyze the sequencing of several events, and therefore to study the short-term as well as the long-term effects of migration on a person’s life. Studies show, for example, that international migration often coincides with downward social mobility for the migrants in terms of occupation, income, housing conditions, etc. (Constant and Massey 2005). Internal or international migration and partner selection are frequently interrelated processes (Mulder 1993; Milewski 2003; Straßburger 2003; Kulu 2006), and international migration and repeated moves have an impact on the subsequent stability of a union (Roloff 1998; Boyle et al. 2008).